Just three days removed from a bonkers 73-point scoring outburst against the Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic put together yet another brilliant performance in a 131-129 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday night. Doncic, who finished the game with 45 points, 9 rebounds, and 15 assists, was the catalyst of a 16-point 2nd half comeback. In the 2nd half alone, Doncic had 26 points, 7 rebounds, and 10 assists, but it was early on in the game, off an assist for a Jaden Hardy three-pointer, when Doncic made an impressive bit of NBA history.
“With his second assist tonight, Luka Doncic (24yr, 335d) becomes the second-youngest player in NBA history to record 10K points, 3K rebounds and 3K assists in their career,” according to a tweet from the official NBA.com/Stats account. “The youngest is LeBron James (24yr, 67d on 3/7/2009).”
Similar to how in the NFL if you pass Jerry Rice on a list it means you’ve accomplished something monumental, the same applies for when LeBron James is the one player in NBA history who managed to accomplish at a younger age than you. But here’s where this accomplishment winds up looking even better for Luka Doncic… LeBron reached the 10K-3K-3K Club in his 453rd career game. It took Luka Doncic only 370 games with the Dallas Mavericks to reach the same milestone.
Now before we get carried away and begin to assume that someday it will be Luka Doncic who passes LeBron James on the all-time scoring list, keep in mind that Doncic himself said that wasn’t happening.
“If you’re saying me, there’s no way,” Doncic said back in January 2023 when propositioned with the idea that he’d eventually be the one to surpass LeBron on the all-time scoring list (h/t Tim McMahon of ESPN). “I don’t know about 20 years. That’s a long time to play basketball. I’d rather go back to my farm in Slovenia.”
So maybe LeBron’s career records aren’t in jeopardy, but from here on out, expect Doncic, a Slovenian farmer at heart, to continue to challenge LeBron in every sort of “youngest” or “fastest” career statistic until he decides to return to his home country.
