Supporters pay £60k to watch LeBron James 

A courtside seat to watch the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night would set you back about £40,000. On Thursday, that rises to almost £60,000.

These are the hottest tickets in America right now, as basketball fans scramble to witness history.

The ringleader of this circus is LeBron James, the 38-year-old Lakers forward and four-times NBA champion, who needs 36 points to eclipse Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time record of 38,387.

James, who has also won four MVP awards, has a strong case to be considered as the best basketball player in history, and this record will be an important feather in his cap when it comes to comparisons with the likes of Michael Jordan.

James is averaging 30 points a game in his 20th NBA season, so he needs a strong showing to break Abdul-Jabbar’s record, which has stood for 39 years, against the Oklahoma City Thunder at LA’s Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday evening. If not, it will surely fall against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday.

Courtside tickets could set you back as much as $48,403 for the former game and an eye-watering $68,995 for the latter, according to the retailer TickPick.

The “cheap seats” are a little more affordable, with general sale tickets starting at $284 for the Thunder game — 50 per cent higher than the team’s season average — and $495 for the Bucks game, according to StubHub.

 “The anticipation of a sports icon accomplishing a historical milestone often dramatically boosts ticket sales, so real fans can say: ‘I was there when . . .’ ” Adam Budelli, a spokesperson for StubHub, said.

 “With LeBron James closing in on the NBA’s all-time regular-season scoring record, the Lakers are the hottest ticket in the NBA — their games against the Thunder and Bucks are the two best-selling games of the week.”

The Lakers have lost three of their past five games and are slipping out of play-off contention, and their star player’s record will not taste so sweet if it comes in a failed season. Asked about the prospect of setting the record after they lost 131-126 against the New Orleans pelicans on Saturday, he said: “I just want to win. You know, you play the game the right way and see what happens. I’m tired as hell, but I’ll be ready to go on Tuesday.”

On the record itself, he said: “It was never a goal, it was never a journey.” He said he was surprised to be on the brink of breaking the scoring record and in the top five on the all-time assists list.

“That’s insane for one individual to be on the brink of being the all-time scorer in the NBA history and also top five all-time in assists and he’s not a point guard,” James said. “It’s truly remarkable for that to be accomplished, but it makes it weird for me when I think that it’s actually me that’s doing it.”