TWICE, in his two tours of duty with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the U.S. National Basketball Association took away from LeBron James what initially was a triple-double performance, no thanks to “clerical” errors (in rebounds and assists) that subsequently were discovered by the league’s stats crew.
On February 4, 2009, in his last term as a Cavalier, James was initially credited with 52 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in a win over the New York Knicks on February 4, 2009 at the Madison Square Garden. But one of those rebounds was subsequently taken away and credited to his teammate Ben Wallace.
Then on November 11, 2014, in his first year back in the Gold and Wine uniform following four seasons and two NBA championships with the Miami Heat, LeBron recorded 32 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in a 118-111 home victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. But a day later, he was stripped of what would have been his 38th career triple-double when the NBA statisticians erroneously credited him with one more rebound and one more assist. James’ final stat line thus was 32 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
With 3:27 left in the third quarter, James was incorrectly awarded an assist when he tipped the ball to Tristan Thompson, who passed to Kyrie Irving for a layup. In the fourth quarter, James was given an offensive rebound that should have gone to teammate Mike Miller.
The league routinely reviews game videotape to maintain the integrity of the statistics.
Referring to the latest T-D snafu, James had “two reactions.” Said the 6-foot-8, 30-year-old native of Akron, Ohio: “My first reaction was it didn’t matter, we won. And who is the guy who actually is checking every stat? That was my second reaction. My kids didn’t quite like it. They didn’t care at all, they was like ‘Why would they do that?’ It’s crazy to them. My first reaction was it didn’t matter, you guys know I don’t really care. If we’d have lost and the assist was taken away I would’ve had a problem with it, but we won.
“But I just want to know who is actually in the office, 13 games a night, recording every statistical category. And if that’s the case, why I’m the only one that’s been the guy?
“It’s my second time, by the way. First time, we played in (Madison Square) Garden. My triple-double was taken away in the Garden when I had 50 (actually 52). Now it’s the second time it has happened. I don’t know if it’s a Cleveland thing or a LeBron thing. I don’t know.”
Regardless, there’s one triple-double performance that would never be taken away from LeBron, along with the distinction that goes with it.
At age 20 years and 20 days, King James netted 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in the Cavaliers’ January 19, 2005 game against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Three days after he earned the distinction of being the youngest T-D producer, James again logged a T-D at age 20 years and 23 days.
Coincidentally, James registered the first triple-double in U.S. Olympic basketball history during the 2012 London Games, collecting 11 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists during a 119-86 quarterfinal victory over Australia.
The Americans eventually picked up their second straight Olympic gold medal after again beating Spain in the finals. James tallied 19 points against the Spaniards to become the all-time leading scorer in U.S. men’s basketball history.
James and Michael Jordan (who’s now the Charlotte Hornets team owner) are the only players ever to win an NBA Most Valuable Player award, NBA title, NBA Finals MVP hardware, and an Olympic gold medal in the same year.
James accomplished his NBA feats that year with the Miami Heat.
He also has worn the Stars and Stripes colors in five major international tournaments – 2004 Summer Olympics (Athens, Greece – bronze medal), 2006 FIBA World Championship (Saitama, Japan – bronze medal), 2007 FIBA Americas Championship (Las Vegas, USA – gold medal), 2008 Summer Olympics (Beijing, China – gold medal) and 2012 Summer Olympics (London, England – gold medal).