WATCH: LeBron James scores his 40,000th career point at home against Nuggets

James became the first player in history to score 40,000 points

LeBron James has officially made history. On Saturday night, he became the first NBA player ever to score 40,000 points in his career. He did so on the Lakers' homecourt, when his Los Angeles Lakers took on the reigning NBA champions, the Denver Nuggets. James entered the game needing just nine points to reach the 40,000-point line, and the magical moment came just a few moments into the second quarter.

The shot itself was a driving layup to push the Lakers' lead as fans in attendance cheered in celebration.

Last season, James became the NBA's all-time leading scorer when he passed Kareem-Abdul Jabbar, who himself racked up 38,387 points in his illustrious career. When that moment came, the game stopped so that the Lakers could hold a ceremony for the new scoring king. This time around, the festivities were far more understated. While James' history was acknowledged, game play did not stop.

To be technical, James actually crossed the 40,000-point plateau long ago. If you include the postseason, James is now over 48,000 total points in the NBA. Across two decades, he has scored 8,023 points in the playoffs, a record by more than 2,000 total points (also over Jabbar). James simultaneously holds the records for most regular season, playoff and combined points.

James may be approaching his 40th birthday, but there is no indication that he's going to stop putting up points any time soon. James is averaging more than 25 points per game this season, a marker he's now hit 20 years in a row. While his role and productivity will likely dip somewhat in the coming years, James has been such a historical anomaly when it comes to scoring as an older player that there is no reasonable way to actually project it.

James didn't just make history by becoming the first player ever to score 40,000 points. He continued to pad an already potentially insurmountable lead on the scoring charts. No active player has even 30,000 career points right now. If James keeps this up, he'll add another several thousand points to his ledger and set a record that will never be broken.