LeBron’s consecutive 40+ point games put him in line for Jordan record 

They say life begins at 40, and if LeBron James' recent form is anything to go by then this theory might just hold some water.

Since turning 38, the LA Laker's small forward has been on something of a run. On his birthday James put 47 points on the board for his side’s 130-121 win over the Atlanta Hawks.

It was James' first 40+ point performance since March last season when he dropped 50 points against the Washington Wizards.

He backed this up again just a few days later against the Charlotte Hornets, netting 43 points on 16-for-26 shooting in Laker's 121-115 win.

Not only is James’ shooting form something to behold, his work rate in general speaks volumes. In his match against the Hornets, James played 39 minutes and 33 seconds, the most of any player that night.    

Lakers coach Darvin Ham knows precisely what he has with James and said he would continue to lean on the ageing veteran.

"I just want to ride him," Ham told ESPN after the game. "And he allows you to do that because he takes such great care of himself. So, it's a great luxury to have."

The recent results put James alongside Michael Jordan as the only other player in NBA history to record at least 45 points, 10 rebounds and five assists at 38 years of age, and his 47 points is the third-highest point total for a player after turning 38 years old.

Doing it consecutively is a record in itself. Again, only Michael Jordan who had consecutive 40+ point nights twice during his time at the Washington Wizards, stands in his way.

If LeBron James can put together a couple more of these nights in a row, it's a title he'll hold over Jordan.

It’s quite fitting that even in this late-career surge, Michael Jordan still looms over James. The pair are often pitted against each other by experts when debating the greatest basketballers of all time.

While Jordan definitely has the upper hand over James in some key attack areas, including average points (30.1-27.1) – an NBA record he shares with Wilt Chamberlain, steals (2.3-1.6) and free throw success (83.5%-73.4%).

James, however, convincingly leads on rebounds (7.5-6.2), assists (7.3-5.3), and three-point percentages (34.5-32.7) across all regular season games.

In terms of playoff games, there still isn’t a vast gulf between the two other than the glaring fact that Jordan still holds the record for average points per game with 33.4 compared to James' 28.4. James is again unmatched by Jodan when it comes to assists though (7.2-5.7)

It’s Jordan’s defensive efforts that are going to be hard for James to top. James is certainly no slouch but, Jordan finished first in the league in steals three times in his career.

In fact, Jordan is still the only player in history to win both the Scoring Champions Trophy, Defensive Player of the Year as well as the MVP for his 1988 season. A sore spot as James controversially missed out on doing this himself in 2013 when he was snubbed for the defensive title.

Michael Jordan has six championships as opposed to LeBron James' four championships. Jordan has six final MVPs while James has four. The gulf between scoring titles might raise some eyebrows though, with Jordan leading 10 to James’ one.

LeBron does have time on his side, it seems and if he can continue his recent form, who knows exactly what he could achieve before he retires. At 38, he’s already scored more points, rebounds, assists, steals and played more NBA games and minutes than Jordan did when he retired at 40.

In fact, with 37,903 points, LeBron James sits only behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387) as all-time point scorer in the NBA – a record he’s expected to top before he bows out. Michael Jordan sits in fifth place on that list with 32,292