Barely more than a year after breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's once-mythical mark to become the NBA's all-time leading scorer, LeBron James has written another new page in the basketball history books. The Los Angeles Lakers superstar became the first player in league history to score 40,000 career points on Saturday night, reaching that threshold with a layup in the first half of his team's matchup with the defending-champion Denver Nuggets.

James entered Saturday's action just nine points short of the 40,000-point threshold after a pair of dominant outings earlier this week. He authored the biggest fourth-quarter comeback of his legendary career on Wednesday, single-handedly outscoring the Los Angeles Clippers 19-16 in the final stanza en route to instant-classic victory with 34 points, six rebounds, eight assists, two blocks and a season-high seven three-pointers. Just 24 hours later, James rescued the purple-and-gold from an embarrassing loss to the lowly Washington Wizards, dropping 31 points, four rebounds and nine assists—including an epic two-way sequence in overtime that included a chase-down block followed by a pull-up three-pointer.

Continuing to stave off Father Time, LeBron James is in the midst of by far the best age-39 season ever. He's averaging 25.3 points, 7.1 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game on near-elite shooting efficiency, including a career-best 40.8% on three-pointers.  Los Angeles has been far stingier defensively with James on the floor, too, allowing 5.5 points fewer per 100 possessions, in the 88th percentile of all players league-wide, per Cleaning the Glass. He ranks ninth in the league overall with a +5.3 estimated plus-minus, according to Dunks & Threes.

The four-time champion was initially listed as questionable to play against the Nuggets, his typical injury designation of late while managing peroneal tendinopathy in his left ankle. James was also questionable vs. the Clippers and Wizards before suiting up and playing both sides of a back-to-back without restrictions.

The once-reeling Lakers are 9-3 in their last 12 games, righting the ship despite standing pat at the trade deadline. All but guaranteed at least a berth in the play-in tournament, 10th-place Los Angeles was three games back of the New Orleans Pelicans for sixth in the West ahead of Saturday's game against Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets.