YEAR 21, WHAT RECORDS COULD THE KING BREAK THIS YEAR?

James is 1,348 points away from becoming the first NBA player to amass 40,000 points in the regular season. But if you tally up all his scoring — including postseason points — there’s an international record he’s closing in on, too.

Oscar Schmidt, a Brazilian basketball player whose career in multiple leagues overseas spanned from the mid-1970s through the early 2000s, scored 49,737 career points through all of his recorded games — the most by any player, anywhere, in history. James enters the season at 48,080.

For the guy who came into the league saying his goal was to one day be known as a “global icon,” passing Schmidt would be a full-circle moment.

James can also move up to No. 1 in all-time NBA minutes played (regular season and playoffs) by logging 549 more to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

There are a few other major top-10 lists he can also climb:

With 56 games played, he’ll move from No. 9 to No. 6 on the career list, passing Kevin Willis, Kevin Garnett and Karl Malone.

James needs one triple-double to break a tie with Jason Kidd for No. 4 on that list.

With 30 regular-season wins, he’ll skirt by Malone and John Stockton for fourth place.

If he makes 292 more free throws, he’ll pass Kobe Bryant for No. 3 all time.

And 22 more steals will put him at No. 8, moving ahead of Clyde Drexler

3. How does James compare to others who’ve played this long in the league?

When James takes the court against the Nuggets, he’ll become the sixth player in the league’s 77-year history to make it to his 21st season or beyond, joining Garnett, Willis, Vince Carter, Robert Parish and Dirk Nowitzki.

Those five players averaged a combined 29.0 points per game in their 21st seasons, led by Garnett’s 7.6. James is coming off a season in which he averaged 28.9.

He is set to obliterate the standards of production for a player at this stage of his career.

There has been a single instance of a player scoring 25 points or more in a game in his 21st season or beyond, let alone coming close to averaging that sum. Nowitzki dropped 30 points in his final home game against the Phoenix Suns in 2019.