On Tuesday night, Dallas Mavericks All-Star Luka Doncic did something the NBA has never seen before. In an overtime win against the New York Knicks, he posted a stat line of 60 points, 21 rebounds, and ten assists. Up until then, no player in history had racked up a box score of this magnitude.
Luka Doncic was already in the conversation for MVP, and this performance only put a bigger spotlight on him. Following this historic showcase, the national media has done nothing but praise the for the three-time All-Star.
FS1's Nick Wright was so amazed by Doncic's performance that he feels it's the second-best ever behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game. He also stated that it is the greatest game ever televised.
"The 60-20-10 No one has ever approached Including Wilt. It's an impossible stat line. Wilt never did this... Playoffs or regular season so I don't think this will ever be done again. Unless Luka does it again."
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"We're splitting hairs here but scoring 81 in a basketball game had been done before, One Time by Wilt. A 60-20-10 had never been done before so for all those reasons, I Kobe's 80-point game gets dropped because it's dropped to third and Luka just had the greatest game in the regular season That was ever televised."
Is this Luka Doncic performance better than Kobe Bryant's 81-point game?
Nick Wright brought up a lot of valid points, and it's hard to argue with his stance. What Kobe Bryant did against the Toronto Raptors was an all-time performance, but Luka Doncic's game on Tuesday belongs ahead of it.
For starters, Luka had a more all-around performance. It takes a truly transcendent talent to impact multiple areas of the game with such volume. Kobe's performance is certainly more iconic because he came close to a record that nobody thought could ever be touched.
Another point made by Wright is that there have been multiple occasions where players have come close to doing what Kobe did. Many of the game's top scorers have had big nights but sat out the final quarter because of a blowout. With that in mind, Luka Doncic gains a slight edge over the LA Lakers legend.
When a player does something that Wilt Chamberlain didn't do, it should be heavily praised. Plenty of guys will come along and have 60+ point performances, but we very well may never see another stat line like what we saw Tuesday again.
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