Josh Giddey of the Oklahoma City Thunder made NBA history on Sunday by becoming the youngest player to ever achieve a triple-double.
Giddey, who is 19 years and 84 days old, broke LaMelo Ball’s record after finishing Sunday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks with 17 points, 14 assists, and 13 rebounds.
When Ball accomplished the feat in January of last year, he was 19 years and 140 days old.
After missing three games while in the NBA’s Covid-19 procedures, Australian Giddey, the sixth pick in the 2021 NBA draught, returned to action in Oklahoma City’s 95-86 loss to Dallas.
“The individual stats are good, you enjoy it for the night, but a win is always better than individual stats for me,” Giddey said after the game.
“As I said, if I had zero-zero-zero and we win, I’m more happy than if I have a triple-double and we lose. It’s always been that way for me, always will be, but it’s a cool milestone.”
Giddey also has the most assists by a rookie in OKC history with 14.
Luka Doncic returned to the Dallas Mavericks after a 10-game, 23-day layoff with 14 points, 10 assists, and nine rebounds. He had been out with an ankle injury and subsequently entered the league’s Covid-19 guidelines
Doncic said, “Weird feeling, but I’m just really happy to be back,”
“My chest was burning. I think slowly it’s going to come back. When I shot, the feeling was weird. I didn’t know if it was going to go in or out. There was one shot that feels amazing, I said: ‘You shot it great and it’s going to go in,’ and it was an air ball.’
In Sunday’s game, Dallas led by 12 points at halftime, but Oklahoma rallied in the third and fourth quarters to narrow the margin to four points with 41 seconds left on the clock.
However, Dallas’ triumph was secured by Maxi Kleber’s three-pointer in the final seconds. The Mavericks improved to 18-18 on the season.