In the OKC Thunder loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James made a bit of NBA history which is sure to inspire another former OKC player into action.
Although OKC Thunder fans have become accustomed to Russell Westbrook owning virtually every triple-double record by active players it turns out LeBron James was the first to achieve a stat previously unheld in the record books.
Back when the Thunder played the Rockets T.I. noted the only team Westbrook hasn’t registered a triple-double against is the Thunder. That’s not surprising since he’s only played on a single occasion versus the team he spent his first 11 seasons with.
Eventually, one would presume he’ll register a triple-double against his former club and complete the 30 team record.
Ironically, as it turned out LeBron James was in the same boat having completed the trip-dub performance against 29 teams and the Thunder was the last team he needed to check off his list.
History was made at 4:08 of the fourth quarter when James assisted his superstar partner in basketball crime – Anthony Davis. It gave James 10 assists on the evening to go along with 11 rebounds and 25 points. This marks the first time in NBA history a player has reached this milestone.
No doubt Russell Westbrook will be aware of the achievement which means the Thunder will be on his basketball bucket list as a team he needs to get a triple-double against.
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Putting this into perspective (at least in terms of the LeBron James portion) this is a pretty remarkable fact that the last team the King took down was our Thunder.
It speaks to the years of defensive prowess of the OKC Thunder. Think of all the teams who LeBron James has played on and the numerous times he’s had the opportunity to record the triple-double.
There was his original Cavaliers squad where he virtually was a one-man wrecking crew much like the 2016-17 version of Westbrook. Then he was with the Miami team during the years when there was a healthy rivalry between the Heatles and Russ-KD.
Even when he returned to the Cavaliers and last season’s young Lakers there was opportunity since James was often the player dictating the offense for those clubs and active on the boards.
Congrats to LeBron James on this major accomplishment. But don’t get too comfortable in your lone chair atop that record mountain because if we know our Brodie he’ll be pulling up a chair to sit beside you — probably this season.