Luka Doncic ties Mavericks' all-time triple-double record days before turning 21
It usually takes more than a few years for a player to re-write a team’s record books, but Luka Doncic has clearly shown he has no interest in waiting to establish himself as one of the greatest players in Dallas Mavericks history.
The precocious Slovenian made Mavericks history yet again on Wednesday when he tied the Mavericks’ all-time record for triple-doubles with the 21st of his career, tying Jason Kidd’s franchise mark.
Not triple-doubles in his first two years, or below a certain age. Total.
Doncic — who now leads the league in triple-doubles this season with 13 — reached that milestone with a 26-point, 14-assist and 10-rebound effort in a 109-103 win over the San Antonio Spurs. The game will be Doncic’s final outing before he turns 21 on Friday.
It’s interesting to see that Kidd was the Mavericks’ all-time leader in triple-doubles considering the Hall of Famer only played six full seasons in Dallas. Doncic was actually in second place as early as his rookie year, passing Michael Finley’s six in March of last year. For those curious, Dirk Nowitzki only had two in his entire career.
Kidd also got his 21 triple-doubles in 500 career games with the Mavericks. Doncic reached the same number in only 119.
Just how much triple-double history can Luka Doncic make?
Doncic isn’t just in the business of making Mavs history. He’s also making a mockery of the all-time leaderboard for players his age, and it might be time to start wondering if he ends up on top of the big board.
Luka Doncic played his last game as a 20-year-old tonight.
He has 21 career triple-doubles — as many as the next 6 players combined before turning 21.
21 — Luka Doncic
7 — Magic Johnson
5 — LeBron James
3 — Lamar Odom
2 — Lonzo Ball
2 — Chris Paul
2 — Antoine Walker pic.twitter.com/OugztjW8DR— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 27, 2020
The NBA’s all-time leader in triple-doubles is Oscar Robertson with 181, a total that Doncic is already 11 percent on the way to passing. Of course, Russell Westbrook — currently at 146 — could very well set a new record by the end of his career.
With 13 triple-doubles this year in 46 games played, Doncic is on pace to finish the season with 19.5 triple-doubles assuming he plays in all 23 games left on the Mavericks’ schedule. If he ends up with 19, he’d have 27 in his two-year NBA career, enough to put him ahead of players like Charles Barkley, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Elgin Baylor.
At a pace of 27 every two years, Doncic would pass Robertson’s mark by his age-32 season. If he keeps a pace of 19 each year like he’s doing this season, we’re talking about him topping 181 when he’s 28.
By then, we might run out of words to describe Doncic.
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