Though his team was defeated by the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night, 113-105, Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James recorded yet another fantastic performance. In his 41 minutes of playing time, the Kid from Akron racked up 35 points on 15-25 shooting from the field (1-4 from beyond the arc), six assists, three blocks and one steal, marking his 400th career double-double.
According to a report from Justin Kubatko, Basketball Reference creator and chief data officer at StatMuse, James is now the sixth active player to reach 400 career double-doubles. Kubatko also notes that the three-time champion is the only small forward to accomplish such a feat.
“I think, at the end of the day, my approach has always stayed the same,” James said during his post-game media availability after Thursday’s loss to the Trail Blazers. “It’s continue to attack.”
400 double-doubles is certainly a noteworthy achievement, but James will have a ways to go if he plans to reach the top of that metaphorical mountain. Currently, Wilt Chamberlain holds the record for most career double-doubles (regular season and playoffs) with 1,111. Tim Duncan is second with 1005, followed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 1004.
According to ESPN, James has tallied 41 double-double performances this season (14 triple-doubles).
James, now 33 years of age and in his 15th season of NBA service, is showing no signs of regression. In his 68 games played for the Cavs this season, the former No. 1 overall pick (2003) has recorded averages of 27.0 points on 54.4 percent shooting from the field (37.0 percent from downtown), 9.0 assists and 8.6 rebounds.
James and the Cavs — now the 4th-ranked team in the Eastern Conference standings with a 39-29 overall record — will be back in action on Saturday night, as they’re scheduled to face the Chicago Bulls inside the United Center. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. EST with FOX Sports Ohio having live broadcast coverage.