Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James started his 19th NBA playoff game of his career, tying the league's all-time record with Karl Malone and John Stockton.
The Lakers started the 2025/26 playoffs with a loss of personnel: Luka Doncic and Austin Reeves were unable to play in the first game due to injuries. Despite this, the California team defeated the Houston Rockets 107:98, taking a 1-0 lead in the first-round series.
James' 2025-26 playoff start was his 19th career start , tying him with NBA record holders Karl Malone and John Stockton. He passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Tim Duncan, who each have 18 playoff starts.
Earlier in the regular season of the NBA, James set another historic achievement: in a match against the Washington Wizards, he repeated the league record for the total number of matches won.
LeBron James' 19 playoff appearances are more than six NBA clubs have made in their entire history:
- “Orlando Magic” — 18
- Memphis Grizzlies — 14
- Minnesota Timberwolves — 14
- “Toronto Raptors” — 14
- “Charlotte Hornets” — 10
- “New Orleans Pelicans” — 9
In the first game of the series against the Rockets, LeBron James played 38 minutes. During that time, he scored 19 points, made 13 assists and 8 rebounds. Thanks to these indicators, the 41-year-old forward set two age records previously held by John Stockton:
- became the oldest player in playoff history to record a double-double in points and assists;
- became the oldest player to record 10 or more assists in a single playoff game.
In addition to the individual statistics, the match set a historic precedent: the first time in NBA history that a father and son played in the same playoff game. 21-year-old Bronny James spent three minutes on the court with his father for the Lakers.
LeBron played in the NBA playoffs for the first time in his career in 2005/06 – at that time his son was less than two years old. Then Cleveland with James was eliminated in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and the forward immediately scored an average of 30.8 points per game.
“I was on the court with my son in a playoff game. It was so cool to be there with him, his brother, his sister, his mom in the building, his grandma… My mom gets to watch her son and grandson during the playoffs. It's crazy,” James said.
The Lakers' second game against Houston will be played on Wednesday, April 22, at 05:30 Kyiv time.