Good players perform well in the regular season. The best players raise their level of play during the playoffs to match the stakes. One high-level performer come playoff time was Magic Johnson.
The Hall of Famer won five NBA championships in 13 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers. Many of Johnson's most notable performances came during the postseason, including in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals, when he filled in for an injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
As a 20-year-old rookie, Johnson started at center, played every position and recorded 42 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists to lead the Lakers to a 123-107 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Though Johnson fell three assists shy in the championship-sealing victory, he finished his career with a record 30 postseason triple-doubles, including eight in the NBA Finals.
Check out the players with the most career playoff triple-doubles in NBA history below.
Note: A triple-double is when a player records a double-digit total in three of five statistical categories (assists, blocks, points, rebounds and steals) over the course of a single game.
Magic Johnson, 30
LeBron James*, 28
Nikola Jokić*, 22
Russell Westbrook*, 12
Jason Kidd, 11
Larry Bird, 10
Luka Dončić*, 10
Draymond Green*, 10
Rajon Rondo 10
Oscar Robertson, 8
*Active
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