The Atlanta Hawks have not had the best starts to the 2019-20 NBA season with four wins so far, and find themselves 12th in the Eastern Conference. But their 21-year-old point guard Trae Young made history last month when he became the youngest player to score at least 30 points and make 10 assists in three consecutive matches.
In the Hawks 125-121 win over the Denver Nuggets, he scored 42 points and made 11 assists. While the Hawks lost their previous matches against the Portland Trailblazers and the Sacramento Kings, the second-year star contributed 65 points and 22 assists over both games.
The latest NBA odds may not favour the Hawks for success this year, or Young to be the regular season MVP, but it’s an incredible achievement for the player who’s fast cementing his place as the league’s most promising talent. Let’s take a look back at some of the other records in the history books.
Most MVP awards
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (formerly known as Lew Alcindor) has won the NBA MVP award a record six times. The center won the Maurice Podoloff Trophy during the 1970s, with his first award coming in 1970-71 and the final one in 1979-80. In a professional career which spanned 20 years, Abdul-Jabbar only played for two teams: the Milwaukee Bucks and the LA Lakers. Wearing the number 33 jersey, which both clubs have since retired, Abdul-Jabbar broke several records, including making the NBA All-Star team on 19 occasions.
Most All-NBA First Team selections
The All-NBA Team is an annual honour awarded to the best players in the league following every season. The judging panel consists of sports writers and broadcasters, and since 1988 it has been comprised of three five-man line-ups (a first, second and third team). LeBron James holds the record for the most First Team selections with 10. He also shares the record with three other players for the total number of selections (15). Still an active player in the NBA for the Lakers, he has an opportunity to make further history. James is highly decorated and considered one of the greatest players in NBA history.
Most points in a game
This record belongs to Wilt Chamberlain and doesn’t look like it will ever be broken. The center, who began his professional career in 1958, even broke his own record twice. Chamberlain made history in March 1962 when he scored 100 points in Philadelphia Warriors’ 169-147 win over the New York Knicks. Few have been able to get close to his record, let alone surpass it. In the modern era, Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in the Lakers’ 122-104 win over the Toronto Raptors (January 2006) to sit second in the list.
Chamberlain appears an incredible 15 times in the list of top 20 players who have scored the most points in a single game. He is also the only player in NBA history to average more than 40 (and 50) points in a season and is the only player to average 30 points and 20 rebounds per game in a single season – a feat he accomplished seven times.
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While the Boston Celtics and LA Lakers dominate their respective Conferences with the most titles – 21 and 31 respectively – records are there to be broken. As we know, the Toronto Raptors made history last season, not only winning their first title but in the process, they became the first team outside of the US to win the NBA Championship.
