On Monday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers are in New York, taking on the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center.
The Lakers are playing without their two best players, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Therefore, nine-time NBA All-Star Russell Westbrook is playing a significant role for the night.
During the game, he made NBA history, as he passed Basketball Hall of Famer Gary Payton on the all-time assists list.
Moving ahead of Payton puts Westbrook in the top ten, so it’s another extraordinary accomplishment to add to his future Hall of Fame resume.
Through 1,335 regular season games, Payton recorded 8,966 assists, while Westbrook now has 8,967 assists in 1,069 games.
The Lakers Tweeted: “Welcome to the top ten for dimes in league history, @russwest44.”
Westbrook is in his 15th season in the NBA (second with the Lakers), and after spending his entire career as a starter, he comes off the bench this year.
The former UCLA star has solid averages of 15.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.0 steals per contest in 47 games (44 off the bench).
Earlier this season, Westbrook scored his 24,000th career pointwhich only 27 other players in the history of the league have accomplished.
In addition, the 2017 MVP is the NBA’s all-time leader for triple-doubles (198).
Before the Lakers, Westbrook played for the Washington Wizards, Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder.
His career averages are an outstanding 22.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 8.4 assists and 1.6 steals per contest.
The Lakers came into the evening as the 13th seed in the Western Conference with a 23-27 record.
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