It didn’t take Luka Doncic long to pass Michael Jordan on this all-time list.
No, Luka Doncic hasn’t passed Michael Jordan on any “greatest players of all time” lists just yet. He’s only in his third season. But he did pass the GOAT on one impressive all-time list, and it didn’t take him very long to do so.
In the Dallas Mavericks‘ game on Sunday (against the Chicago Bulls, ironically enough), Doncic recorded the 29th triple-double of his career.
That was enough to pass MJ on the NBA‘s all-time triple-double list, and the 10th assist to notch that triple-double was a thing of beauty:
Luka Doncic has already passed Michael Jordan in triple-doubles
To be fair, the triple-double craze has taken flight in recent years in a way it just didn’t during Michael Jordan’s era outside of Magic Johnson. Guys like Jason Kidd, Rajon Rondo and Russell Westbrook made triple-doubles far more commonplace, and now, on a Mavs team that’s been missing several key players this season, Doncic has been doing everything in his power to keep his team afloat.
With that being said, this is still an impressive accomplishment for a player who’s only 21 years old and hasn’t even completed his third NBA season yet. Twenty-nine triple-doubles in just 144 career games is pretty eye-opening, and Doncic is only just getting started.
By halftime on Sunday, Doncic had tallied 30 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists, though his team trailed the Bulls by 15 at the break. Chicago held on for the win as Luka put up 36 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists in the loss.
However, no one should let the final result distract from how sublime Luka Doncic was in this contest. With 29 triple-doubles, he is now tied with Grant Hill for 15th on the NBA’s all-time leaderboard. He trails Ben Simmons (30) by one, John Havlicek (31) by two, Rajon Rondo (32) by three and Bob Cousy (33) by four. If he records 15 more triple-doubles, he’ll pass Fat Lever (43) to enter the top 10.
Oscar Robertson (181), Russell Westbrook (150) and Magic Johnson (138) are still a long ways away, but don’t count Doncic out as his career just begins to take flight. It might not be long before he’s passing them too.