Luka Doncic posted his 79th career triple-double in a 125-118 Dallas Mavericks win over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday. Doncic put up 30 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Doncic passed one Hall of Famer on the night, but the other player he passed is still in the NBA. He surpassed Wilt Chamberlain and James Harden for lone control of the No. 7 spot.
“That’s an incredible feat for Luka,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “When you talk about his skill set, filling up the stat sheet, he’s had two here, he can run them off. We always expect him to have a triple-double, or we sometimes take him for granted for triple-doubles. I think right now you can see that he’s starting to get into a groove.”
Kidd himself is no stranger to triple-doubles, registering 107 of his own during his Hall of Fame career. Doncic still has a way to go to pass his coach on the all-time list, but Kidd might not even give his floor general a shot.
“I guess I’ve got to sit him,” Kidd said jokingly. “It’s just incredible, the ability, the strength to be able to throw it that far,” Kidd said. “He probably could have been a quarterback for the Cowboys.”
That’s some high praise from Kidd, especially after calling one of his triple-doubles “boring.”
All kidding aside, Doncic passing Chamberlain is one thing, but the fact he passed Harden on the list despite coming into the league nearly a decade after him speaks volumes about his greatness, especially when it comes to finding his guys down the floor.
Doncic has been previously criticized by a former NBA champion about his effort and Kidd recently said the Mavs’ schedule is “messed up.”
Both stories will easily be forgotten about if Dallas wins it all this season.
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