The MVP race just reached a fever pitch, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the one holding the microphone. In a heavyweight clash between the league’s last two MVP winners and the current frontrunners, SGA and the Oklahoma City Thunder squeezed out a thrilling 129-126 victory over the Denver Nuggets.
While Nikola Jokic put up a characteristically dominant 32-point, 14-rebound, 13-assist triple-double, it wasn’t enough to stop a Thunder squad that has now won seven of their last ten matchups against the defending champs. Shai’s night was more than just a game-winner; it was a statistical masterclass. He became only the second player since the 1977-78 season (joining LeBron James) to post a line of 35 points, 15 assists, and ZERO turnovers.
But the real headline is the history he shared with the most dominant force the game has ever seen. By scoring at least 20 points for the 126th consecutive game, SGA has officially tied Wilt Chamberlain’s 1963 record for the longest such streak in NBA history. Even Jokic couldn’t help but marvel, stating, “I don’t know that people know how hard it is to do that. He’s a special player.”
Chasing the Impossible: The Toughest NBA Records to Break
The road to history now runs through own his own arena. Shai has the chance to stand alone at the top of the mountain in his next home game against the 2024 champion Boston Celtics. To understand the gravity of this 126-game run, you have to look at the legends left in his rearview mirror. Michael Jordan and Kevin Durant both topped out at 72 games; Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hit 71, and Kobe Bryant’s best was 63.
Shai isn’t just beating these records-he’s nearly doubling them. With 16 games left in the season for the Thunder, there is a very real possibility he pushes this streak past the 140-game mark.
While SGA is making the impossible look routine, his pursuit of Wilt reminds us that the NBA record books are filled with numbers that look like typos. As we watch Shai chase his own piece of immortality, here are the benchmarks that still look completely untouchable in the modern era:
- 100 Points in a Single Game (Wilt Chamberlain, 1962): Even in a high-scoring era, the closest anyone has come is Kobe’s 81 in 2006. With modern defensive schemes and more distributed offenses, triple-digit individual scoring is a relic of the past.
- 50.4 Points Per Game in a Season (Wilt Chamberlain, 1961-62): For context, Michael Jordan’s career high was 37.1. To average 50 over 80 games requires a volume of shots that simply doesn’t exist in today’s game.
- 11 NBA Championships as a Player (Bill Russell, 1957-1969): In an era of extreme parity, winning 11 rings in 13 seasons is a feat that belongs to a different universe.
- All-Time Career Points (LeBron James): Sitting at over 43k points, LeBron has built a fortress. It would take a player two decades of elite, injury-free production just to see the gates.
The New Frontier: LeBron’s Longevity and the Unreachable Curry Bar
We are currently witnessing another record fall in real-time. LeBron James is sitting at 1,606 career regular-season games, trailing the legendary Robert Parish (1,611) by just five appearances. Barring a sudden shutdown, LeBron will become the all-time leader in games played this month. Once he sets that bar, his combination of total points and total games played will likely never be challenged again.
However, even LeBron likely won’t touch John Stockton’s 15,806 career assists. The gap between Stockton and second-place Jason Kidd (12,091) is so vast it’s almost comical. In an age where point guards are expected to be primary scorers, the “pass-first” iron-man career of Stockton remains the safest record in sports.
Similarly, Stephen Curry’s 402 triples in the 2015-16 season remains the annual “gold standard.” While the league shoots more threes than ever, the specific blend of volume and 45% accuracy Curry maintained that year is a “one-of-one” phenomenon.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is proving that even “unbreakable” records can be threatened if you are consistent enough, but as we look at the names of Wilt, Russell, and Stockton, it’s clear that some legends are simply carved in stone.
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