Lakers Rival Passes Magic Johnson in All-Time Triple Doubles

The Los Angeles Hall of Famer has been surpassed.

June 23, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Then-Los Angeles Lakers president of basketball operations Magic Johnson speaks to media before introducing newly drafted player Lonzo Ball at Toyota Sports Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Former 12-time Los Angeles Lakers All-Star point guard Magic Johnson, one of the greatest passers of all time, has been lapped in career triple-doubles by one of L.A. fans' least-favorite people: six-time All-NBA Denver Nuggets superstar center Nikola Jokic, per ESPN.

In a 126-114 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday night, the three-time league MVP scored 27 points on 13-of-26 shooting from the field and 1-of-1 shooting from the foul line, grabbed a whopping 20 rebounds, dished out 11 dimes (against just three turnovers), and swiped four steals, while logging a -8 plus-minus.

He and Johnson had been tied with 138 triple-doubles heading into Thursday's bout. In recording his 139th triple-double on Thursday, the 6-foot-11 big man only trails Hall of Fame point guard Oscar Robertson's 181 and Nuggets teammate Russell Westbrook's 200. Westbrook, whose year-and-a-half Lakers tenure will not make his Hall of Fame highlight reel, scored 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the floor (1-of-3 from long range) and 1-of-2 shooting from the foul line, grabbed three rebounds, passed for three assists, notched a steal and blocked a shot in his 15:55 off the Nuggets' bench, while recording a team-worst -15 plus-minus.

With the defeat, the eighth-place Nuggets fall to a middling 11-9 record on the season, and are now just mere percentage points ahead of the 12-10 Lakers in a talented Western Conference. Denver has been hemorrhaging championship depth in the years since claiming its 2023 title, letting three of its best seven players from that 2022-23 team leave in free agency without finding suitable replacements for many of them. The Nuggets have fallen from being a perennial contender into being a meager play-in hopeful.

Jokic is hoping to earn his fourth MVP honor in five seasons. He's actually averaging a triple-double on the year so far, a feat that only Westbrook and Robertson have accomplished over the course of a full NBA season. This year, his 10th in the league, the 29-year-old superstar is averaging a career-best 30.1 points on .564/.522/.816 shooting splits, 13.0 rebounds, 10.4 assists, 1.7 steals and 0.9 blocks a night, while playing a dangerous 37.6 minutes a night.

It took Johnson 13 seasons to record his 138 triple-doubles, albeit in an era with fewer possessions, lower scores and more aggressive man-to-man defenses. For his career, Johnson boasts averages of 19.5 points, 11.2 assists and 7.2 boards a game. He led the Lakers to five championships, earning three Finals MVPs (and three league MVPs) for his efforts.

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