Team USA was in a dire state in the first three quarters of the Olympic semi-finals against Serbia. But in quarter 4, things got better as the Dream Team 2.0 managed to defeat Serbia, 95-91. In the game, it was Stephen Curry who shone the brightest, but the focus was on LeBron James as he registered a feat that had only happened just three times in the Olympics history. He got the fourth triple-double in the Olympics basketball history.

King James scored 16 points, 6-for-9 shooting, 10 assists, and 12 rebounds to lead his team to a thunderous win. By doing so, the Akron Hammer not only recorded a rare feat but also became the first person in the world to do it multiple times. Until the semi-final clash against the Serbian side, there were only three recorded triple-doubles in the 120 years of Olympic basketball history. Alexander Belov, representing the USSR, became the first person to record it in 1976 against Canada. Belov produced a mesmerizing stat-line of 23-14-10.

The second one took a little longer, about 36 years. This time, it was the man himself, LeBron James. In the 2012 London Olympics, the superstar dropped 11-14-12 against Australia. Notably, the US side went on to win gold. The third one wasn’t that long, as it only took 9 years. The prodigal son of Slovenia, Luka Doncic, pulled off his usual NBA numbers in the Tokyo Olympics, scoring 16-10-18. Notably, the 2020 event was postponed to 2021 because of the global pandemic.

The fourth and the last one didn’t take much time. Three years later, it was LeBron James again. This time, with the stakes set high, a must-win game to secure a spot in the Finals. King James went up against Nikola Jokić‘s men and recorded 16-12-10 on a winning cause. And ultimately became the only person on earth to record a triple-double twice in the Olympics.

Unlike the NBA, Olympic basketball is a tough format to record a triple-double. Even though the Olympics introduced the sport back in 1904, only a handful of players have done it. One of the main reasons could be the shortened game time per quarter. The teams play 10 minutes per quarter in the international games. Meanwhile, the NBA franchises play 12 minutes per quarter. Nevertheless, this did not stop Bron from achieving the feat twice!

LeBron James on a mission

Team USA had a dominant run in the tournament, winning every single game with double-digit margins, and showing no mercy to their opponents. Everyone expected the American side to win the gold effortlessly. However, it all went into shambles after they met Serbia in the semi-final clash. Apart from Stephen Curry, everyone struggled to find buckets. The Bay Area superstar dropped 17 points in the first quarter alone, which included 5 three-pointers. However, the team was still 8 points short of the Serbian total.

The European side, with the likes of Ognjen Dobrić and Aleksa Avramović, put on a shooting exhibition and kept the team ahead in the race. They led the scoreboard through the game and also held a 15-point lead at one point. Heading into the fourth quarter, the US side trailed by 13 points. It looked as if James & Co’s journey came to an end.

But, this is where LeBron James came out with fire in his eyes. Firstly, he surprised everyone when he switched Joel Embiid‘s position voluntarily to guard the Serbian big man, The Joker. The 39-year-old engaged in plenty of one-on-one battles with the reigning MVP and won them as well. In fact, fittingly, James dropped a heavily contested layup to equalize the score after three-quarters of the struggle.

Importantly, the triple-double wasn’t even in the picture until the fourth quarter. The 4x NBA Champ channelized his Miami Heat era into the game and recorded 6 points with 6 rebounds and four assists. Along with him, Steph and Kevin Durant made the much-needed buckets, helping the US side outscoring Serbia by 17 points in the last quarter. On the other hand, Jokic, who is steadily rising in the NBA triple-double ladder with 130, almost secured his first Olympic triple-double. The 29-year-old ended the game with 17 points, 5 rebounds and 11 assists.

Notable basketball records in the Olympics

With around 120 years of history, the Olympic basketball surely will have a lot of stories to tell. LeBron James’ triple-double record is one of them. Brazil’s Oscar Schmidt is one hero of these tales. The superstar from the 1980s holds the record for most points scored in tournament history with 1093 points. Kevin Durant, who leads Team USA’s all-time scoring record of 494 points, is far from breaking Schmidt’s record.

Apart from that, the Brazilian legend also holds the record for the most points scored in a game and the highest average in a single tournament. He scored 55 points against Spain in 1988 and averaged 42.8 points in the same tournament. Notably, the legend has the record for the most number of games scored above 44 points, 6 times.

With the increase in popularity of the game, the record book may have a revamp in the coming years. Importantly, France has produced some of the big names in recent times. Maybe the world could witness French domination in the coming years. Let us know your thoughts on the records in the comments below.

Before leaving, do watch the Dual Threat Show hosted by BG12 where Bulldogs’ Asia Avinger details her experience with Kobe Bryant, her WNBA ROTY picks, and more in the video below.