LeBron James becomes oldest player to have…
LOS ANGELES — LeBron James turned the oldest player in NBA historical past to have a triple-double, conducting the feat Thursday evening at 41 years and 44 days outdated during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 124-104 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
James had 28 factors and 12 assists when he grabbed his tenth rebound with 2:06 to play. He bought a standing ovation when he checked out moments after finishing his 123rd profession triple-double, the fifth-most in NBA historical past.
James broke the report held for the past 22 years by Karl Malone, who recorded his ultimate triple-double for the Lakers when he was 40 years and 127 days outdated.
LeBron James, going up for a layup, turned the oldest NBA player to get a triple double in the Lakers’ 124-104 win over the Mavericks on Feb. 12, 2026 in Los Angeles. Getty Images
“I guess I’m more appreciative of moments like this in my career, understanding where I’m at, at the later stage of my journey,” James said. “You definitely take it in a little bit more.”
James’ play has remained strong when healthy during his unprecedented twenty third NBA season, but the top scorer in NBA historical past hadn’t had a triple-double since Feb. 1, 2025, in the Lakers’ 128-112 win over the Knicks at the Garden.
That day is better remembered in Lakers historical past for the late-night breaking news of the seismic commerce that introduced Luka Dončić to the Lakers.
Malone had held the report as the oldest player with a triple-double since he had 10 factors, 11 rebounds and 10 assists on Nov. 28, 2003, during his ultimate NBA season.
James recorded the next 15 triple-doubles on that checklist, and he repeatedly got here close to setting the report over the past yr, but didn’t fairly attain it until the Lakers’ ultimate sport before the All-Star break.
“I think what it represents is pretty cool — the fact that you can go out and have an impact in three facets of the game,” James said. “Rebounding. The assists, obviously, are what I love the most. Being able to get my guys involved, throughout my career I’ve always loved that more than anything. And being able to put the ball in the basket, that’s 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’s pretty cool.”
With Dončić sidelined by a delicate hamstring pressure, James was aggressive and lively from the opening tip when he returned from his own injury absence during the Lakers’ loss to San Antonio on Tuesday.
LeBron James is all smiles during the Lakers’ win over the Mavericks in Los Angeles. Getty Images
After dancing gleefully in pregame warmups and screaming his approach down the tunnel when he took the court, James put up 14 factors and six assists in the first quarter alone against Dallas. He factored into the Lakers’ first 23 factors of the sport.
James had 18 factors, eight assists and 4 rebounds by halftime.
He topped double digits in assists during the third quarter, but he didn’t come out of the sport during the fourth quarter before he grabbed the three rebounds mandatory to get the triple-double.
He nearly had it a few possessions earlier, but Austin Reaves beat him to a board — and bought an earful from the remainder of the Lakers.
“Everybody on the team yelled at me,” Reaves said. “I 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, ‘Shoot, my fault.’”
LeBron James goes up for a layup during the Lakers’ win over the Mavericks in Los Angeles. NBAE via Getty Images
James was chosen for his twenty second All-Star look this weekend at Intuit Dome even though he has missed 18 video games this season due to injury.
That means James is ineligible for inclusion on his twenty second All-NBA crew at the end of his unprecedented twenty third season.
James entered this sport averaging 21.8 factors, 6.9 assists and 5.7 rebounds per sport for the Lakers, who are in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race despite taking part in only 10 video games with James, Doncic and Reaves concurrently healthy.
James missed the first 14 video games of the season while dealing with sciatica.
James has 152 profession triple-doubles when the playoffs are included.
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