Mavs' Klay Thompson Makes Strong LeBron James Statement After Hitting Career Milestone

The Dallas Mavericks key wing made a LeBron James realization after hitting a new career achievement.
Jan 7, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) reacts against the Dallas Mavericks during the second half at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
Jan 7, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) reacts against the Dallas Mavericks during the second half at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images
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The Dallas Mavericks made a crucial offseason move to land Klay Thompson through free agency, though it took a sign-and-trade to complete, adding the sharpshooter to a core with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

When healthy, the Mavericks are a true contender. While Thompson might not be the player he was prior to his injuries or even during the Golden State Warriors title run during the 2021-22 season, he's exactly what he needs to be in Dallas.

The sharpshooter is expected to be exactly that. Take the high-quality looks generated by the scoring gravity of Doncic and Irving to provide them space to make their impact.

In being a sharpshooter for the Mavericks, Thompson recently surpassed an incredible career milestone. Despite having suffered two injuries that used to be career-ending, Thompson has bounced back in a resilient way.

Sporting a Mavericks jersey, Thompson scored his 16,000th career point as he continues building a Hall of Fame resume. After learning of his career milestone, Thompson reacted and gave his flowers to LeBron James.

"It's cool, but it makes you realize how ridiculous it is that LeBron has 40,000. That's insane. It's cool. Any time you do something like that in the NBA it's a special moment," Thompson said.

Evidently, anyone can try and make comparisons for James, claim he's not the best player of all time or whatever it might be. Numbers can't be ignored, though. Even when hitting an incredible mark of his own, Thompson recognized James.

James has been an absolute legend in the NBA and scoring 40,000 points, for any player, is an incredible achievement and showing of continuity.

For Thompson, he not only hit a points scored milestone, but he's looking to win a fifth career championship, this time coming in Dallas.


READ MORE: Kyrie Irving Upgraded On Injury Report for Mavericks-Nuggets

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Kade Kimble
KADE KIMBLE

Kade has been covering a wide variety of teams ranging from the NFL to the NBA and college athletics since joining Sports Illustrated's FanNation in 2022.