Kobe Bryant Becomes Oldest Player with 30 Points in a Triple-Double
Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant became the oldest player in NBA history to score 30 points in a triple-double when he dropped 31 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds on the Toronto Raptors on Sunday, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Bryant has finally returned to full health this season following a 2013 campaign shortened to six games because of a ruptured Achilles tendon and a knee injury. Through 17 games this season, he has averaged 26.6 points, 4.6 assists and 5.4 boards in nearly 36 minutes per game.
The triple-double was the 20th of Bryant's career and his first since April 2013.
Prior to Sunday, the oldest player to put up a triple-double with 30-plus points was Larry Bird in 1992 at age 35. Only 19 players have accomplished the feat at any point after turning 30, and just five (Bryant included) have done so multiple times.
Bryant also hit a career milestone in Sunday's contest, dishing out his 6,000th assist midway through the third quarter to become the first player with 30,000 points and 6,000 assists over the course of a career, per Baxter Holmes of ESPN.com.
With 32,153 career points, Kobe sits 140 shy of passing Michael Jordan for third on the all-time scoring list.
The 36-year-old Bryant remains well short of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387 points) for first on the all-time leaderboard in scoring and would require multiple seasons to catch him. However, Kobe certainly showed he can still play with Sunday's spectacular performance.
