Getty Image / Katharine Lotze
LeBron James made history this week when the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-107 at home on Tuesday night. LeBron put in over 37 minutes and tallied up 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists (+2 steals) for a triple-double.
In doing so, LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to score a triple-double against every team in the league. If that sounds pretty insane it’s because it truly is a wild feat. It requires a freakish NBA star who stays healthy throughout his career long enough to have a stellar game against every team he faces, it also requires that player to move around to different franchises.
If you’re like me then you’re wondering how LeBron was the first person to pull this off and not Russell Westbrook who puts up a triple-double anytime he wants. The answer is because Westbrook still hasn’t scored a triple-double against his former team, the team LeBron James set the record against, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
What’s funniest to me this morning about LeBron’s latest record-setting feat is how the mainstream sports media’s reactions don’t measure up to LeBron’s. Every major sports outlet was publishing news about this last night and this morning.
Meanwhile, LeBron James had no idea he’d set the record until head coach Frank Vogel informed him of what he’d done. And LeBron thought he was joking! Check out the clip (around the 3:40ish mark):
If you’d rather read than watch, here’s what LeBron James had to say (via FTW):
“I had no idea. Coach Vogel came in here and said, ‘Congratulations.’ I was like, I thought he was joking about my seven turnovers because I’ve been taking care of the ball so much and he said, first player in NBA history to have a triple-double versus 30 teams, every team. So I was like, ‘Okay. That is pretty cool.’”
Here are all of LeBron’s highlights from Tuesday’s game against the Thunder:
It’s amazing that we’re already 14 games into the season and the Boston Celtics + Los Angeles Lakers are both in 1st place in their respective conferences. What year is it?! And Golden State is in DEAD LAST PLACE in the West.
What a strange ass season this is going to be.