LeBron James addressed his great string of performances after the Lakers‘ 128-123 win over the Grizzlies. When talking about putting up a third straight triple-double in his last three games, James noted that he took things one game at a time, but did express gratitude over being able to play at a high level and help his team win games.
“I’m just living in the moment. It feels good to be able to go out and play the game I love at a high level, still. Every night I step on the floor, I try to help our team be successful in any form or fashion. In that sense, it’s pretty cool.”
LeBron James had an incredible performance against the Grizzlies last night, putting up 35 points (13-22 FG), 12 rebounds, 14 assists, and one steal. It was a sensational outing from a player who, despite being in his 22nd season, is still performing at the highest level possible. Fans were ecstatic to see the king continue his great spell with yet another big-time performance.
It wasn’t just empty stats that LeBron put up, as he stepped up and delivered big-time in the fourth quarter, scoring nine points, seven rebounds, and five assists, and guarding Jaren Jackson Jr., taking on the toughest defensive assignment despite being the oldest player on the team by some distance.
James’ previous triple-doubles came against the 76ers – with 21 points (9-14 FG), 12 rebounds, and 13 assists – and the Raptors – with 19 points (6-14 FG), 10 rebounds, and 16 assists.
What has made this run of form even more special for fans is that it has led to winning basketball, as the Lakers are currently on a three-game winning streak. For the season, James currently has four triple-doubles, and all of them have come in wins for the Lakers, meaning that the team is undefeated whenever James puts up a triple-double.
LeBron James Continues To Make History
To contextualize this great run of form from James, one must look at the previous season. While James has been able to register four triple-doubles in just 11 games, it took him 71 games to have five triple-doubles last season.
On top of that, James also became the oldest player in NBA history to record three consecutive triple-doubles. He broke the record he had set just five years ago with the Lakers when he achieved the same feat in the 2019-20 NBA season as a 34-year-old.
Last night also marked James’ 116th career triple-double and his 43rd with the Lakers. James currently sits fifth in the all-time triple-double leaders, behind Russell Westbrook (199), Oscar Robertson (181), Magic Johnson (138), and Nikola Jokic (136). Don’t be surprised if James ends up climbing up the list before the end of his career.
For James to break his own personal best of triple-doubles registered in a season, he would need to have 15 more triple-doubles before the end of the season. James set a career-high 18 triple-doubles during the 2017-18 season. And given how he has been playing, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to set that record.
So far this season, James is averaging 24.3 points, 9.4 assists, 8.1 rebounds, 0.6 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game. If he continues putting up similar numbers this season, he might just break his own record for triple-doubles in a season.
However, for James, the priority is still playing winning basketball, as he said in his post-game comments. And despite a rough stretch in the middle, the Lakers are doing just that, as they have a 7-4 record and currently sit sixth in the Western Conference.
And James will do everything in his power to make sure they continue to get better, even if that means dropping more triple-doubles this season. The Lakers continue their quest to defend the NBA Cup on Friday night, as they take on the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center at 8 PM.
After getting a big win in last night’s game, the Lakers will want to get their NBA Cup defense underway the right way, with a notch in the winning column of their group standings.
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