Another game, another LeBron James record.
With 19 points, 16 assists and ten rebounds in a 123-103 win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, ‘King James’ became the oldest player in NBA history to register back-to-back triple-doubles.
It was the Los Angeles Lakers superstar’s third triple-double of the season and the 115th of his illustrious 22-year career.
His second straight triple-double followed his 21 point, 13 assist, 12 rebound outing against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.
LeBron passed LeBron to become the oldest player to record back-to-back triple doubles. James set the previous record when he was 36 during the 2020–2021 NBA season.
However, had it not been for a fan yelling at LeBron from the sidelines, he might not have registered a triple-double against Toronto.
After the four-time champion pulled down his tenth and final rebound against the Raptors, he pointed towards a fan sat inside Crypto.com Arena.
After the game, James told reporters the fan was yelling at him to get one more rebound to complete the triple-double.
“Boy he definitely yelled at me,” the 39-year-old forward joked. “He got my attention [yelling] ‘one more rebound!’”
“I was like, ‘what’?’
“He was like ‘one more!’
“So, I got one more and pointed at him to acknowledge that I was listening. I appreciated it to that guy over there.”
Fans online caught wind of LeBron’s comments and joked that the guy must have had a bet on James finishing with a triple double.
“The fan had a parlay on LeBron [crying emoji],” one fan posted on X.
“My goat for the people,” added another.
“Goat for getting that man his money,” said a third.
LeBron is fifth on the all-time triple doubles list, behind Russell Westbrook (199), Oscar Robertson (181), Magic Johnson (138), and Nikola Jokic (136).
“I was blessed by the man above with some out-of-this-world ability from the beginning and then I took full advantage of it,” James said after the Raptors victory.
“I wasn’t going to disrespect what he was giving me. Let’s see how long I can do it. But I won’t do it until the wheels fall off, I’ll tell you that. I won’t be one of those guys.”
The Lakers improved to 6-4 for the season with the win and remain undefeated at home (5-0).
Anthony Davis scored 22 points and continued to make his case for MVP but left the game due to an eye injury sustained while blocking a shot.
The Lakers will now host Memphis on Wednesday before taking on San Antonio in the group stage of the annual NBA Cup.
The Lakers won the inaugural NBA In-Season Tournament last year, defeating the Indiana Pacers in the championship game in Las Vegas.
James was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player — another award on his laundry list of a résumé.
