Lonzo Ball passes LeBron James as youngest in NBA history to record a triple-double

Just two weeks and one day after his 20th birthday, prized Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball recorded his first-career triple-double of 19 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists in a 98-86 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

This now makes him the youngest player to achieve the feat, surpassing Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James.

More importantly in the present context, however, is that Ball finally shot over 50% in this game for the first time in his career, making 6/11 shots with 3/5 (60%) threes for a 55% overall clip. The closest he got to this mark was nearly a month ago on October 20, when he shot 44% with 29 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists in his second NBA game.

Since then he has shot horribly, netting him current percentages of 29% on field goals, 23% from three and 50% on free-throws. During this period, fellow rookie and 27th overall pick Kyle Kuzma quietly outshone the “Big Baller” with averages of 14.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists on 52% shooting and 82% from the charity stripe. Basketball legends like Charles Barkley and Jalen Rose even acknowledged Kuzma as the better Laker rookie. Even at the same Milwaukee game, Kuzma still held his own with a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds.

While this achievement is certainly impressive from the highly-scrutinized youngblood, he still has a long way to go to earn back the trust of fans. But this is a good start. – Rappler.com