Luka Doncic recorded his 59th triple-double, tying Larry Bird for 9th place on the all-time charts

In the game Dallas Mavericks vs Oklahoma Thunder (120:126), Slovenian basketball player Luka Doncic recorded his 59th career triple-double. He has now tied the Boston legend Larry Bird.

In a game in which Doncic practically never left the court, he played a record number of minutes this season – 46, and scored 36 points, 18 assists, 15 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. But it wasn’t enough to win. This was despite the Mavericks going on a record streak of 30-0 in the 4th quarter, something no team has ever managed in history.

Still, he could at least take comfort in the fact that he recorded his 3rd triple-double of the season and 59th of his career. This puts him within striking distance of Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird, who ranks 9th on the historical charts. However, he needed more than 500 more games to accomplish that feat.

Expected to move up in the historical charts

So it’s only a matter of time before the ninth place becomes independent and pushes the club legend Boston to the 10th place. Ahead of him now is the so far active LA Clippers player James Harden, who has collected 15 more triple-doubles. However, he is past his performance zenith.

Doncic has reached this point with admirable speed. He is only in his sixth season in the USA and averages a triple-double every six games. Meanwhile, the current NBA is much more versatile, as there are 5 active players in the top 10 so far.

The first position is occupied by Russell Westbrook (198) by a huge margin, who is also the only basketball player, together with Oscar Robertson, to record a seasonal triple-double. That is, for the whole season, he had double-digit points, rebounds and assists! The fourth position is occupied by last seasons leader Nikola Jokic (114), followed by the “king” Lebron James (108) and then the aforementioned James Harden (74).

The number three pick of the 2018 draft, who was selected by the Atlanta Hawks but subsequently traded to Dallas, has stormed into the NBA in style. He was voted Rookie of the Year in his very first season and has always been selected to the 1st All-star team of the season for the last 4 seasons.

Only a nomination for MVP of the season still eludes him, though he missed little last year. So the Dallas team has a new leader after the retirement of club legend Dirk Nowitzki, who may bring the NBA title back to Dallas. Nowitzki led the team to the title for the first and last time in 2011.

Source: NBA, Basketball – References