James accomplishes the feat 1 day after flying from L.A. to Atlanta and back to cheer on his beloved Ohio State.
LeBron James showed neither jet lag nor fatigue while racking up 21 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds in the Lakers’ 111-88 victory.
LeBron James, the NBA’s all-time scoring leader, continues to make history in his 22nd season.
Three weeks after his 40th birthday, James became the second NBA player to post a triple-double at age 40 or older. Karl Malone was 40 years, 127 days old when he recorded a triple-double on Nov. 28, 2003.
James had 21 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds in the Lakers’ 111-88 victory over the Wizards — one day after flying to Atlanta and back to watch the College Football Playoff championship game on his day off.
“It was great to be there [in Atlanta],” James said. “I was (also) there 10 years ago, I believe, when they won it. I was there in Dallas when they won it. To be there yesterday with a lot of my family and friends, it was super cool to be able to have that moment. We’re all diehard Ohio State fans back home.”
James has been an Ohio State football supporter since his childhood in Akron. He watches them on television and turns up in person whenever possible — including in January 2015, when Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes beat Oregon at AT&T Stadium to win the inaugural Playoff.
James’ trip to Dallas 10 years ago was also remarkable.
Then with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he had road games in Sacramento and Phoenix on the days before and after the Buckeyes’ title game against the Ducks. James flew to Dallas, returned to Arizona at about 12:30 a.m., and scored 33 points against the Suns the next evening.
Malone is the only other NBA player to record a triple-double in his 40s. “The Mailman” did it for the Lakers on Nov. 28, 2003, in a win against the San Antonio Spurs, when he was 105 days older than LeBron was Tuesday night.
James has recorded 14 triple-doubles over the past two seasons, and he was the second-oldest player in league history to achieve the feat each time, extending his own standard.
This was James’ ninth triple-double of the season, which is second only to Nikola Jokić (19), and the 121st of his career, which ranks fifth all-time behind Russell Westbrook (202), Oscar Robertson (181), Jokić (149) and Magic Johnson (138).
He has shown almost no signs of decline halfway through his record-tying 22nd NBA season, averaging 23.8 points, 8.9 assists and 7.4 rebounds.
James also climbed a major statistical leaderboard Tuesday night with his 2,308th career steal, surpassing Scottie Pippen for seventh place on the league’s all-time steals list.
He had another steal later in the game to pull within one of Maurice Cheeks. Only John Stockton (3,265), Jason Kidd (2,684), Chris Paul (2,669) Michael Jordan (2,514) and Gary Payton (2,445) have more.