LOS ANGELES \u2013 LeBron James became the oldest player in NBA history to have a triple-double, accomplishing the feat Thursday night at 41 years and 44 days old during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 124-104 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.<\/p>\n
James had 28 points and 12 assists when he grabbed his 10th rebound with 2:06 to play. He got a standing ovation when he checked out moments after completing his 123rd career triple-double, the fifth-most in NBA history.<\/p>\n
James broke the record held for the past 22 years by Karl Malone, who recorded his final triple-double for the Lakers when he was 40 years and 127 days old.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess I\u2019m more appreciative of moments like this in my career, understanding where I\u2019m at, at the later stage of my journey,\u201d James said. \u201cYou definitely take it in a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n
James\u2019 play has remained strong when healthy during his unprecedented 23rd NBA season, but the top scorer in NBA history hadn\u2019t had a triple-double since Feb. 1, 2025, in New York. That day is better remembered in Lakers history for the late-night breaking news of the seismic trade that brought Luka Doncic to the Lakers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Malone had held the record as the oldest player with a triple-double since he had 10 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists on Nov. 28, 2003, during his final NBA season. James recorded the next 15 triple-doubles on that list, and he repeatedly came close to setting the record<\/a> over the past year, but didn\u2019t quite reach it until the Lakers\u2019 final game before the All-Star break.<\/p>\n \u201cI think what it represents is pretty cool \u2014 the fact that you can go out and have an impact in three facets of the game,\u201d James said. \u201cRebounding. The assists, obviously, are what I love the most. Being able to get my guys involved, throughout my career I\u2019ve always loved that more than anything. And being able to put the ball in the basket, that\u2019s part of this game as well. So I think what it means, to be able to have your hand in three facets of the game, making an impact in those three, that\u2019s pretty cool.\u201d<\/p>\n With Doncic sidelined by a mild hamstring strain, James was aggressive and active from the opening tip when he returned from his own injury absence during the Lakers’ loss to San Antonio<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n After dancing gleefully in pregame warmups and screaming his way down the tunnel when he took the court, James put up 14 points and six assists in the first quarter alone against Dallas. He factored into the Lakers\u2019 first 23 points of the game.<\/p>\n James had 18 points, eight assists and four rebounds by halftime. He topped double digits in assists during the third quarter, but he didn’t come out of the game during the fourth quarter before he grabbed the three rebounds necessary to get the triple-double.<\/p>\n He almost had it a few possessions earlier, but Austin Reaves beat him to a board \u2014 and got an earful from the rest of the Lakers.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody on the team yelled at me,\u201d Reaves said. \u201cI don’t catch myself looking at the stats during the game, so we went to the bench and everybody let me know about it. He didn’t, but everybody (else), and I looked at him and said, \u2018Shoot, my fault.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n James was selected for his 22nd All-Star appearance this weekend at Intuit Dome even though he has missed 18 games this season due to injury. That means James is ineligible for inclusion on his 22nd All-NBA team<\/a> at the end of his unprecedented 23rd season.<\/p>\n James entered this game averaging 21.8 points, 6.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game for the Lakers, who are in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race despite playing only 10 games with James, Doncic and Reaves simultaneously healthy. James missed the first 14 games<\/a> of the season while dealing with sciatica.<\/p>\n James has 152 career triple-doubles when the playoffs are included.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n