LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to score 50,000 career points on Tuesday, extending his lead as the league's all-time record scorer by reaching a milestone tally that may never be surpassed.

The Los Angeles Lakers superstar went into the game against the New Orleans Pelicans with 49,999 regular and postseason points after a 17-point performance in Sunday's win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

It did not take long for the 40-year-old NBA icon to get the solitary point needed to reach the 50,000-point barrier.

James, who is in dazzling form in the 22nd season of a glittering career, gathered a pass from Luka Doncic and unfurled a sublime 25-foot three-pointer to move to 50,002 points with the Crypto.com Arena crowd roaring their acclaim.

James had passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's previous all-time regular-season scoring record of 38,387 points in 2023 – itself a record that had stood for 39 years.

James is now nearly 6,000 points clear of Abdul-Jabbar's total career points tally of 44,149, with Karl Malone third (41,689 points) and the late Kobe Bryant fourth with 39,283 points.

Michael Jordan is fifth on the all-time scoring list with 38,279.

Among active NBA players, only Kevin Durant, with just over 35,000 points – roughly 15,000 points behind James – makes the top 10. (AFP)