As of Tuesday afternoon, LeBron James is just 36 points shy of breaking the NBA’s all-time scoring record. But if fans want to watch history be made in person, it’s going to cost them.
Tickets in the lower level for the Los Angeles Lakers’ game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night start at $1,067, CBS News reported. The news outlet noted that tickets behind the hoops are going for $69,162 each on Vivid Seats and seats nine rows back for $42,845.
Courtside seats range from $12,000 to $75,000 on Ticketmaster. The cheapest seats in the 300-level sections start at $124.
As James has approached breaking the record, the average price of Lakers tickets has increased by 211% since the beginning of the season, according to CBS News.
While fans are willing to pay thousands of dollars to watch James make history, there’s a catch: The scoring record might not even be broken on Tuesday.
James is averaging 30 points per game and has only scored 36 points or more in five of the 13 games he’s played in during the past month, per ESPN.
He is also listed as questionable with left ankle soreness for Tuesday’s game, according to the Lakers’ injury report.
Fans who trust the analytics are eyeing the Lakers game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday as the better bet. Ticketmaster shows seats for that game in the 300-level sections start at $460 and courtside seats cost as much as $100,000.
The average purchase price for tickets to Thursday’s game is $1,230, which could set a new Lakers record for the average ticket purchase price. The record is currently $1,137 for Kobe Bryant’s last game in 2016, according to Front Office Sports.
The chase for the record
James started the season with 37,062 points, just 1,325 points below Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record. Abdul-Jabbar set the record in 1,560 games. James can do it in 1,410 if he scores 36 points on Tuesday.
James sat down with ESPN’s Michael Wilbon on Monday to talk about breaking the record.
“I’ve never said I wanted to lead the league in scoring,” he said, according to a tweet from ESPN. “For sure, I never said I wanted to be the all-time leader in scoring. That’s never been like a dream of mine. To sit here and be on the brink of it actually happening, it’s pretty crazy.”
He told Wilbon that, as people have compared his and Abdul-Jabbar’s career as he approaches the record, the company he is in stands out more than any record or statistic.
“For me to be in the company with such a prominent, dominant force like Kareem was, it’s an honor,” he said.
Many NBA experts believe that once James sets the new record, it will be unbreakable.
The closest active player behind James is his former teammate, 39-year-old Carmelo Anthony, who is a free agent. Anthony is ninth on the all-time scoring list with 28,289 points, according to NBA.com.
The next closest would be Kevin Durant at No. 14 all-time with 26,684 points. He is four years younger than James.