LeBron James and Lonzo Ball made some NBA history together against the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday night, as they became the first pair of teammates to record a triple-double in the same game since Jason Kidd and Vince Carter did it for the New Jersey Nets in 2007. They also became the first pair of Lakers teammates to do so since Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar both recorded triple-doubles against the Pistons in 1982.
James finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists. Ball tallied 16 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds. Afterward, the duo spoke about their achievement.
"I mean, anytime you can put yourself in the conversation with Laker history and all the guys who came through this franchise, it's pretty special," James said, via ESPN. "And tonight is another example of that."
James pointed out some similarities between his approach to the game and Lonzo's.
"We just try to do a little bit of everything to help our team win," James said. "We're one and the same when it comes to our play-making ability. We're always looking for our teammates, and that's the greatest satisfaction we can have when we see our teammates score the ball. We've always been pretty good rebounders for our position -- him at the guard spot, me at the forward spot. And then being able to put the ball in the hole as well. We just try to be aggressive, attack the rim, make shots from the outside when guys disrespect us, and we showed all of that tonight."
Ball grew up idolizing James, so making NBA history with him is sort of surreal for the second-year guard.
"Ever since he got here, it's been a dream come true for me," Ball said. "I watched him my whole life -- he was my idol growing up. Then we both get a triple-double in the same game. I don't even know if I dreamed of that before. It was a good day today."
Lakers coach Luke Walton was happy with what he saw from both James and Ball on Saturday night.
"They just -- they play basketball," Walton said of James and Ball. "They make the right reads. I thought they were both very aggressive as far as both ends of the floor, making sure we didn't lose two in a row. It's something we talk about as a team. They're both such brilliant playmakers, when they're aggressive and can get in the lane, it puts a lot of pressure on another team's defense. LeBron, we're kind of used to him doing that, but I thought Zo made some really nice strides tonight as far as continuing to try to get downhill."
Prior to the season's start there was some speculation about how James and Ball would fit together on the floor as they are both used to being ball-dominant players, but performances like Saturday night go a long way to silence such skepticism.
