LOS ANGELES — LeBron James’ eyes darted to the front of the rim late in the fourth quarter against the Dallas Mavericks. And as Dallas guard Tyus Jones’ jumper bounced off the orange cylinder, James shot himself into the air, jumping past Los Angeles Lakers teammate Jaxson Hayes to grab the rebound while the Crypto.com Arena crowd roared Thursday night.
It was his 10th rebound of the game to go with 28 points and 12 assists, making James the oldest player in NBA history to have a triple-double.
James broke a record previously held by Karl Malone, who had 10 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for the Lakers on Nov. 28, 2003, when he was 40 years and 127 days old. James’ triple-double came 43 days after his 41st birthday.
Playing against the Mavericks, who were without rookie Cooper Flagg, James opened the game by hitting a pair of 3-pointers, after which Hayes put an imaginary crown on James’ head.
He pushed the Lakers to a big fourth-quarter lead before corralling that final rebound with 2:05 left, exiting 20 seconds later to a standing ovation in the Lakers’ 124-104 win.
A triple-double for LeBron James 👀
… and a standing ovation as he checks out of the game!
28 PTS I 10 REB I 12 AST I LAL W pic.twitter.com/ThX0zmU8sR
— NBA (@NBA) February 13, 2026
“It’s pretty cool to be able to still play at this level,” James told Prime Video reporter Cassidy Hubbarth after the game. “To be able to sprint the floor, run the floor and hang with teenagers, 20-year-olds, early 30s, it’s pretty cool.”
The Lakers, who were playing without Luka Dončić for the fourth straight game, improved to 33-21 entering the All-Star Break and jumped to fifth in the Western Conference. James has posted at least 10 assists in his last four games, three of which were Lakers wins. He sat out Tuesday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs.
The loss was the Mavericks’ ninth in a row, dropping them to 19-35. It’s Dallas’ longest losing streak since the 1998-99 season.
This story will be updated.