Even though the Los Angeles Lakers were defeated by the Denver Nuggets on Saturday, LeBron James was the talk of the town.

James needed just nine points to become the first player in NBA history to achieve 40,000 career points going into the game versus the Nuggets. James reached that milestone quickly because, in the second quarter, he scored on his trademark spinning layup, much to the excitement of the Crypto.com Arena crowd.

James accepted the well-deserved standing ovation from the spectators during head coach Darvin Ham’s timeout with a sincere wave. But the remainder of the evening wasn’t as enjoyable because the Lakers fell in the final seconds to the Nuggets.

Even after the defeat, James maintained his pride in his abilities and explained what it meant to him to pull off the accomplishment and win the gans’ affection.

“Of course, when I’m fighting, I’m never thinking about a milestone. However, we clearly identify it when it occurs,” James remarked. “I have the utmost regard and allegiance to the Laker fan base for their love and support during the timeout. Being the first player to accomplish something in this league is kind of fascinating because you get to know the history and the greats who have played here. After that, you may see a few of the greatest players who played tonight. It was truly amazing to compete against it.

“However, winning is always the most important thing to me. I simply detest that it had to occur after a loss, particularly against a really talented team. We also had some excellent basketball tonight, but we were unable to finish it off. Thus, bittersweet. However, I relished every second spent on the floor tonight.

James made it clear that he would have loved to reach this milestone in the form of a victory, and he acknowledged that he felt both irritated and angry following another Denver loss.