Ben Simmons keeps etching his dang name into the NBA record books one day at a time, with the 22-year-old lad born in Fitzroy and raised in Newcastle today toppling yet another all-time mark previously held by some bloke called LeBron James.
[jwplayer OZACKE0F]
Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers easily accounted for the Cleveland Cavaliers to the tune of 128-105 early this morning, despite the presence of the Crown Prince of Cleveland Matthew Dellavedova.
In that effort, Simmons dropped 22 points, 14 assists (!!!), and 11 rebounds, registering his 15th career triple-double in the process.
15th career triple-double for @BenSimmons25! #HereTheyCome pic.twitter.com/UTDmdnTVO3
— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) December 16, 2018
What’s interesting about this one, however, is that Simmons managed to do all this while registering precisely zero turnovers for the entire game.
At just 22-years-old, that makes him the youngest person in NBA history to finish a game with at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and 0 turnovers.
That particular all-time mark was held by LeBron James who took until he was 24 to complete it. Beyond that, the youngest players to ever have notched that particular statistical line include Jason Kidd, who first did it at 25, Russell Westbrook, who had to wait until he was 27, and Magic Johnson, who played right through until age 31 before chalking that one up for the first time.
Ben Simmons becomes the youngest player in NBA HISTORY with 20 pts, 10 rebs, 10 asts, 0 TOs at 22. LeBron was 24. J-Kidd 25. Westbrook 27. Magic 31.
— Chris Palmer (@ChrisPalmerNBA) December 16, 2018
There’s a bit to be said about getting the feat done against the Cavs, which at the moment is a bit like pulling wings off flies as far as stat sheet-stuffing goes. But then again if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.
Old mate was basically doing whatever he wanted out there.
Ben Simmons. 🤷🏻♂️pic.twitter.com/wmiERKPxzD
— Jordan (@Jorda_NBA) December 16, 2018
Bloody… how do you stop that?
