Two of the most prolific basketball players of the past decade keep making a name for themselves in the NBA history books, as this week Stephen Curry and Russell Westbrook both carved new personal scoring records to enter an elite group of basketball hall-of-famers.
On this past Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers player became the 28th highest scorer in NBA records as he dropped over 24,000 points throughout his career. The only unfortunate thing was the record came after they lost for the tenth consecutive time against their city rivals, the Clippers.
The veteran point guard finished his night with 17 points, one rebound, five assists and two steals in 25 minutes of playing time.
Moving on 🆙
Congratulations @russwest44 on becoming just the 28th player in NBA history to score 24,000 points! #exceling pic.twitter.com/FFyzkHIq2P
— excel basketball (@excelbasketball) January 25, 2023
The 2017 MVP’s role has changed a lot ever since he became a Los Angeles resident, as he isn’t dedicated as much to offensive responsabilities as he used to. That’s why this is a more than impressive milestone for his already remarkable resume.
He has played in 46 games (43 off the bench) and has averages of 15.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.0 steals per contest. As he has been a starter all throughout his career, many former players and coaches have praised him this season for embracing the bench role.
Former Pelicans trainer, Stan Van Gundy had much to say about it. “What’s impressed me the most is that he’s really tried to focus on being more of a playmaker, to get in the paint and make plays for other people,” he said. “I don’t see him pouting about coming off the bench. He’s not making passive-aggressive comments in the media. I see acceptance from a guy who’s trying to make it work.”
According to some of our favorite sport betting sites, Westbrook is the favorite to win the 2023 6th Man of The Year Award (-175).
This comes as no surprise, as the Lakers man has already broken many records coming in as a substitute in recent matches. For example, just last week he made more scoring history, as he became the first player to make multiple triple-doubles coming off the bench with the Los Angeles side.
Los Angeles are enduring a hard spell this season as they have struggled to find their best version to compete for playoff qualification. However, they recently recovered their star Anthony Davis after a 20-game-absence due to injury. And even better, the Lakers latest signing Rui Hachimura already played for his new club with a 12-point debut last night against the San Antonio Spurs.
Curry enters the Top 40 all-time NBA scorers
Just as Westbrook did this week, last night it was time to shine for Stephen Curry, as the player flew past the 21,000-point-record to become the 40th highest scorer in NBA history.
21,000 career points. Congrats, Steph! đź‘Ź pic.twitter.com/gOMl7CV2tT
— NBA (@NBA) January 26, 2023
The 34-year-old achieved his record after a tight clash against the Memphis Grizzlies. The Golden State star was even ejected before he was able to score 34 points for his team to squeeze in the 122-120 victory, as Jordan Poole made the final game-winning shot.
In 33 games played for the 2022-23 season, Curry is averaging 29.3 points, 6.2 rebounds, and  6.2 assists per game.
