Photo Credit: The Canadian Press, Basketball Forever, Ronald Cortes/Getty Images/AFP, Isaiah J Downing-Imagn Images, Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports, David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Making history is always a big deal in the NBA. It speaks volumes about a player and the career he has had. This is why players, experts, and fans alike all keep tabs on these milestones. Incidentally, plenty of history will likely be made during the course of what promises to be an exhilarating 2024–2025 NBA season. We picked out five which we believe will be pretty momentous given the long, colorful history of the NBA.
1. LeBron James reaches 50,000 points
The King already eclipsed 40,000 last season on his way to becoming the NBA’s all-time regular season leading scorer at 40,474. But in addition to his regular season production, LeBron has also scored 8,162 points in the postseason, giving him 48,636 points in total, regular season and playoffs.
This means the current Los Angeles Laker needs only 1,364 points this upcoming season to reach 50,000 for his career—a sure eventuality given how LeBron has scored over 1,500 points in 20 of his 21 seasons, only missing the mark in the pandemic-shortened 2020–2021 NBA season.
To put this looming milestone into context, only two other players have scored over 40,000 points in their career, regular season, and postseason: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (44,149) and Karl Malone (41,689). Kobe Bryant (39,283) and Michael Jordan (38,279) round out the top five all-time.
2. Steph Curry makes 4,000 treys
The Golden State Warriors’ Curry is the only marksman in NBA history to have made at least 3,000 trey balls in the regular season, having already hit 3,747 three-pointers in only 956 games. This 2024–2025 NBA season, Chef Curry is likely to breach the 4,000 mark, extending his all-time record to near unreachable levels.
Given Curry’s career average of 3.9 made 3s per game, expect the NBA’s greatest shooter ever to reach this milestone in just around 65 games. Curry, though, has averaged 4.7 treys since the 2021–2022 NBA season, which means he could breach 4,000 made 3s in just 53 games if he keeps up that prolific rate.
Next to Curry in the all-time 3s list is the retired Ray Allen, who hit 2,973 in his career. James Harden and Damian Lillard—both still active—are third and fourth, with 2,940 and 2,607, respectively.
3. Russell Westbrook gets 200 triple-doubles
The Denver Nuggets’ Westbrook is Mr. Triple-Double, having recorded 199 in his career—more than the 181 of Oscar Robertson and the 138 of Magic Johnson. This season, Westbrook can become the first in NBA history to get 200 triple-doubles as he needs only one more.
Of course, Westbrook has slowed down considerably over the past few years and has not been as prolific in churning out triple-doubles. But if it is any consolation, he did drop one last season, which means he might as well get another in the 2024–2025 NBA season.
Incidentally, Westbrook will be playing with Nikola Jokic, who is currently fourth in the all-time triple-double list at 130.
4. Curry gets to 25,000
In NBA history, only 25 players have scored at least 25,000 points in the regular season. Thanks to his otherworldly shooting, Curry is just about to join that exclusive 25,000-point club as he is sitting at 23,668 points and just needs 1,332 more.
For someone with a career average of 24.8 points, that milestone would be reached in just 53–54 games. Even if Curry’s production falls off a bit, it still seems inevitable that he will get to 25,000 this season.
5. DeMar DeRozan breaches 25,000
DeRozan, a midrange maestro set to play for the Sacramento Kings, is just below Curry at 23,582 regular season points—leaving him 1,418 clear of the 25,000 points club. For a bucket-getter, reaching that mark seems a foregone conclusion.
If DeRozan keeps up his career average of 21.2 points, he will get to 25,000 in 66–67 games. But the former Chicago Bull and Toronto Raptor have been prolific these past few seasons, and if he maintains his 24-point average from last season, he will likely hit that mark in the Kings’ 59th or 60th game of the 2024–2025 season.
The 2024–2025 NBA season will begin on October 22.
