LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have been struggling this NBA season whereas Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors have the best record in the entire league. Both players were in action on Tuesday night and both future Hall-of-Famers made history.
Down in Houston, the Lakers took on the Rockets and were looking to avoid their first six-game losing streak since the 2017-18 season. Los Angeles prevailed in a close 132-123 contest and while both LeBron James and Russell Westbrook made Lakers’ history by both recording triple-doubles, James crossed a threshold only two other players in NBA history have ever reached.
Against the Rockets on Tuesday night, LeBron recorded 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his 102 career triple-double, fifth in the NBA all-time, but he also recorded his 36,000th career point. Now at 36,001 career points, LeBron James ranks third on the all-time scoring list in NBA history and joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Karl Malone as the only players in NBA history to surpass 36,000 career points.
At 36-years-old and his birthday being on Thursday, LeBron also became the youngest player in NBA history to record 36,000 points in his career and this is just the beginning of a crazy stat.
LATEST NBA NEWS: NBA Major COVID Protocol Change: Everything To Know
According to ESPN Stats and Info, LeBron James is the youngest player in NBA history to reach every single round number milestone in points scored from 1,000 career points all the way to 36,000 career points.
In this game, James also became the only player in NBA history to record at least 36,000 points, 9,000 rebounds and 9,000 assists in his career. The list goes on and on for achievements and records LeBron has set, but the most important thing to him is that he and the Lakers came out victorious for the first-time since beating the Dallas Mavericks on December 15.
“The hardest thing to do in this league is win,” LeBron James said following the Lakers’ win over Houston on Tuesday night. “So when you win you never take it for granted.”
1,928 miles away in California and close to two hours later, Steph Curry made a little bit of NBA history of his own. While they were unable to complete an improbable 24-point comeback against the Denver Nuggets, Curry made his 3,000 career three-point shot in the third-quarter against the Nuggets, becoming the first player in NBA history to surpass 3,000 made threes for his career.
LATEST NBA NEWS: NBA Major COVID Protocol Change: Everything To Know
By making a single triple against the Nuggets, Curry did not only make his 3,000 career three-pointer, but he has also now made at least one three-point shot in 157 consecutive games, matching his own NBA-record streak.
Now sitting at 3,004 career made threes and counting, Steph Curry continues to cement his legacy as the NBA’s greatest shooter of all-time. Just over two weeks ago, Curry passed Ray Allen for first on the NBA’s all-time three-pointers made list and we could be getting close to deeming this record “unbreakable”.
Of course every single record always has a chance to be broken, but there are a select few that we may actually be able to deem “unbreakable”. Wilt Chamberlain averaged 48.5 minutes per game during the 1961-62 season, Walt Bellamy played in 88 total regular season games for the Knicks and Pistons during the 1968-68 season and Cal Bowdler recorded 7 fouls in 1999 when playing for the Hawks.
All three of these records are virtually impossible to break in today’s NBA and by the time Steph Curry is done making it rain in ‘The Bay’, he could be at a number for three-pointers made in his career that nobody will ever come close to.
LATEST NBA NEWS: NBA Major COVID Protocol Change: Everything To Know
At 33-years-old and turning 34 in March, Curry continues to elevate his play and he still looks like that he has at least 5-6 great years in him before he begins to slow down. They say players develop a better jump shot as they get older and begin making more three-pointers than earlier in their career, so if this is the case with Steph Curry… good luck guarding him!
LeBron James and Stephen Curry are two of the greatest players in NBA history and being able to watch them both compete at the highest-level possible at the same time is something we tend to take for granted. Hate them or love them, we are witnessing NBA history every time these two competitors take the floor for their respective teams.
