The skinny kid from Hamilton has taken his place ahead of one of the ultimate NBA legends, an icon across all of sports and culture. 

It’s hard to fathom. A signpost for Canadian basketball that no one could have seen coming, even as our national presence in the NBA kept coming in waves. 

But what Gilgeous-Alexander signalled once again when he converted a 20-foot jumper at the 7:04 mark of the third quarter on Thursday against Boston, marking his 127^th straight game of 20 points or more, was that he is on a path that will have him mentioned among the best to ever play as a matter of routine.

Chamberlain held the previous mark for consecutive games with at least 20 points at 126, which came to end on Jan. 20, 1963 when the then-San Francisco Warriors star was ejected in the first quarter of a game for arguing with an official. 

The way Gilgeous-Alexander is going, it seems like only injury or bad luck could threaten this current run. But chances are whenever it does come to a close, it will be nothing more than an interesting anecdote in his still unfolding basketball biography. 

The 20-point streak was one of the prolific Chamberlain’s lesser-known records until recently, a forgotten footnote until the OKC star’s steady excellence pulled Chamberlain’s milestone out from the behind the spare lightbulbs and paper towels in the far reaches of the statistical closet. 

But for Gilgeous-Alexander, who finished with 35 points and nine assists in a 104-102 OKC win over the Celtics that kept them atop the Western Conference standings, it will represent another paragraph it what will certainly be a hall-of-fame resume. 

“It’s still a lot to even wrap my head around,” Gilgeous-Alexander told reporters earlier this week after tying Chamberlain’s 63-year-old record. “To be honest with you, I try not to even think about it, especially during the season. So much is going on, and so many things have to go right for you to get what you ultimately want.

“But obviously being in the conversation with a guy like (Chamberlain) is special.”

Tellingly, Gilgeous-Alexander was emotionless after he broke the record, and didn’t show much more when he hit consecutive jumpers that gave the Thunder the lead in the final minute. Thunder big man Chet Holmgren scored the winning points with 0.8 seconds left on the clock.  

Tying a Chamberlain record is like bumping Babe Ruth from the books in baseball, or Wayne Gretzky in hockey. 

Chamberlain still is the only player in NBA history to average 50 points per game for a season; or score 100 points in one game; or lead the NBA in scoring seven times; or in rebounding in 11 times; or average 22.9 rebounds per game for your career.

And in case you were wondering, his record for consecutive 30-point games remains standing at 65. 

But on this night, Gilgeous-Alexander had centre stage to himself. 

For context, the next longest active streak of 20 points or more belongs to Kawhi Leonard, with 43. Among active players, the closest anyone else has come is Kevin Durant with a 72-game streak. LeBron James scored at least 10 points a game for an NBA record of 1,297 consecutive games – a run that ended earlier this season in Toronto. But the NBA’s all-time leading scorer’s longest streak of 20-point night nights topped out at 49.

Gilgeous-Alexander’s streak has been no frills. There has been no chasing or stat padding.

According to Tom Haberstroh at Yahoo Sports, Gilgeous-Alexander had hit the 20-point mark before the fourth quarter 39 times heading into Thursday.

More importantly, Gilgeous-Alexander’s record-breaking streak straddles two of the greatest individual seasons a player has ever had and taken place while leading the NBA’s best team. 

Over the past two seasons combined – 131 games and counting – Gilgeous Alexander is averaging 32.3 points, 6.5 assists and 1.6 steals with a True Shooting percentage (reflecting the value of two-point shots, three-point shots and free throws) of 64.9. 

No other NBA player – not Chamberlain, not Michael Jordan, and not James – has ever matched that combination of offensive volume and efficiency.

Only five players – Jordan, James Harden, Luka Doncic and Damian Lillard are the others – have ever had averaged 31 points and six assists with a True Shooting mark above 60.0. None have done so while making just 2.3 turnovers a game, like Gilgeous-Alexander has.  

Put another way: Remember when Steph Curry turned basketball upside down and shot 44.3 per cent from three on more than eight attempts a game while winning his first MVP award and leading the Golden State Warriors to their first title in 2014-15? 

Well, over the life of his streak Gilgeous-Alexander has averaged nearly nine more points per game than Curry (23.8) in his first MVP year and was more efficient than Curry in posting one of the best shooting seasons in NBA history.

Even the late Chamberlain would likely give a knowing nod of approval. 

But what is perhaps most relevant about Gilgeous-Alexander’s new record is that it will end up being simply an interesting thing for the Canadian guard rather than a defining achievement. 

Just consider that since Gilgeous-Alexander started his streak on Nov. 1, 2024 with 30 points in 28 minutes in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers, the OKC star has won the NBA scoring title, the regular-season MVP award, the Western Conference MVP award and the Finals MVP award. 

Barring an injury, Gilgeous-Alexander will almost certainly win the MVP award again and the Thunder remain the favourites to win their second straight NBA title, with Gilgeous-Alexander the presumptive Finals MVP. Only James, Jordan and Larry Bird have ever done that. 

If he were to take up snooker and never touch a basketball again, he’d already be a lock for the Hall of Fame, the greatest Canadian basketball player ever and a candidate for best Canadian athlete of all time. 

But Gilgeous-Alexander is just 27 years old. The organization he works for is putting on a masterclass for the modern sports era. In a league designed to make dynasties short-lived, the Thunder are young, agile and set up for the long-term. 

Success in the NBA can come and go like a wave rising and crashing on a desolate beach.

But if you had to bet on whether Gilgeous-Alexander was closer to the start of a long run as a dominant force on a dominant team or to the end, you know where the smart money would end up. 

All of which is to say: who knows what accolades and accomplishments Gilgeous-Alexander will accrue over the next five years of his prime and beyond? 

Enough, almost certainly, that what he did Thursday night – knock Wilt Chamberlain out of one line of the history books – will be a garnish on the main course of his career. 

After all, this is an athlete whose motto is: “My whole life is consistent.” 

I’m not sure when Gilgeous-Alexander gave the quote in full for the first time, but it pops up from an on-court interview he gave to Thunder sideline reporter Nick Gallo on March 9, 2024 on the night he had his 47^th 30-point game, breaking Durant’s Thunder record. It has become his personal tag line at this point.

The first time I heard it was after Gilgeous-Alexander had helped the Thunder to a double-overtime win over the Toronto Raptors a month earlier. 

On the eve of him making history for being able to achieve a minimum level of excellence for nearly two entire seasons, it rings truer than ever. 

“I’m very, very strict on consistency in every aspect of life,” Gilgeous-Alexander said to me, post-game on Feb. 4, 2024.  “And I think it helps my basketball.  Whether it’s my eating, my day-to-day schedule, how clean my house is. It’s what I do with my time, whether I’m playing or not. I try to be very, very strict on discipline, being consistent. I think it helps with my basketball.”

Which is the ‘how’ when it comes to Gilgeous-Alexander’s greatness. As his skill coach Nate Mitchell explained to me with regard to his client’s Kobe Bryant-like zeal for the process of improvement in the off-season: “Nothing changes. There’s no bend. I could lose my phone and I know where to get him on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, in three different places [each day]. Like, he’s gonna be rigid — on time, same time.”

So what do have here? A long-armed six-foot-six point guard who can dribble like prime Muggsy Bogues, shoot like prime Lillard, change directions like Gumby, and train like Rocky Balboa? 

All of which is to say Gilgeous-Alexander being named in the same sentence as Chamberlain won’t be the last time he and a short list of NBA greats are side by side in word and deed. 

Where that streak ends, no one knows. 

LOS ANGELES — Luka Doncic had 51 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, LeBron James added 18 points in his return after missing three games because of injuries and the Los Angeles Lakers used a strong third quarter to defeat the Chicago Bulls 142-130 on Thursday night.

Doncic scored 50 points for the first time as a Laker following the blockbuster trade that sent him from Dallas to Los Angeles in February 2025. It was Doncic’s 13th 40-point game in 82 appearances for Los Angeles, moving into ninth in franchise history.

Austin Reaves chipped in with 30 points, Deandre Ayton had 23 points and 10 rebounds for his 20th double-double of the season, and the Lakers’ four-game winning streak is their longest since running off seven in a row Nov. 14-30.

Los Angeles moved ahead of the idle Houston Rockets into third place in the Western Conference.

Josh Giddey scored 27 points and Matas Buzelis had 22 for the short-handed Bulls, who have alternated wins and losses over their past six games following 11 straight losses in February.

James started off sluggish after being sidelined by a right hip contusion and arthritis in his left foot, picking up his only points of the first half on a layup and free throw for a three-point play with 54 seconds remaining. The sequence sparked James, 41, and he made all five of his shots from the field in the third quarter to finish with 11 points in the period.

Giddey and Buzelis combined to go 10 for 20 from 3-point range, finding their shot in the second quarter and keeping the Bulls in striking distance for most of the game. Chicago ended up 15 for 36 from deep.

Bulls: Visit the Clippers on Friday.

Lakers: Host the Nuggets on Saturday.

VANCOUVER — All he wanted to do when he came to the Vancouver Canucks was win because, really, that’s all Jake DeBrusk had done in his first seven National Hockey League seasons with the Boston Bruins. Mostly, all he has done since he got here is lose. 

So when DeBrusk, after his lowest ice time this season, was able to flip a forehand under the crossbar in the shootout to give the Canucks a stunning 4-3 win Thursday against the Nashville Predators, the 29-year-old winger was able to enjoy a rare moment of satisfaction knowing that he had actually helped his team win.

“Yeah, it feels rare,” he smiled. “I’ve had a couple chances in the shootouts with that move; I’ve hit, like, three posts or three cross bars, something like that. So it was nice to see it actually work for once and, yeah, it feels good. Any way that I can help feels awesome.”

Signed to a seven-year free-agent contract by the Canucks two summers ago largely for his 86-game playoff resume, DeBrusk was among names of veteran Vancouver players being tossed like confetti in trade conjecture ahead of last Friday’s NHL deals deadline.

He told PostMedia last week that he was “not built for rebuilds,” a remark reflecting frustration that DeBrusk quickly walked back the next day.

But the agony of this season on the Canucks’ handful of senior players has been obvious. Instead of playing for a Stanley Cup, they’re expected to lead the academy of prospects the organization is amassing for its rebuild.

“It is what it is, you know,” DeBrusk said. “Mentally, I mean, it’s not easy for anybody. Nights like tonight, we can celebrate a little win. Obviously, it hasn’t been as many times as we’re all used to. But yeah, mentally, it’s been the hardest year of my career. This year, it seems like it’s just not (my year). I think I’ve talked enough about it, but it really does hit home. At the same time, you’ve still got a job to do.

“You’re playing in the best league in the world. Doesn’t matter if you get five minutes, 15 minutes or 20, if we win a game — as I’ve said since I’ve been here — I don’t care.”

Thursday’s win was just the seventh in 32 home games for the Canucks. Let that sink in a minute.

DeBrusk, who scored 28 goals last season, has just 14 in 64 games this season, only three of them at even strength. The Edmontonian has played one less game than the Canucks because coach Adam Foote healthy-scratched him Dec. 29 in Seattle.

DeBrusk has one goal in his last 13 games, two in his last 22. Playing on the fourth line Thursday, he saw just 9:53 of ice time in regulation and made a coverage mistake on the first Nashville goal as the Predators built a 3-1 lead.

But after Marco Rossi scored on a rebound for Vancouver with 4:05 remaining in the third period, and Filip Hronek tied it 3-3 with a top-corner bullet at six-on-five with a minute to go, Foote gave DeBrusk two shifts in overtime. Then he sent out the veteran to score the only goal of the shootout against Juuse Saros.

“You’ve just got to be a good pro and just be yourself,” DeBrusk said. “You’re human and you can show that, too. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with being disappointed in your play, and if you’re not doing well, try to respond. I’ve already been a healthy scratch. The response maybe hasn’t been what I wanted or what we’ve wanted as a team. But what am I going to do? (Former Boston captain) Patrice Bergeron used to say ‘every shift is a gift.’ Dude, I’m lucky to be out there.”

Besides Hronek and DeBrusk, another of the veteran leaders remaining in Vancouver, Brock Boeser, scored the Canucks’ first goal.

All of the younger players are watching them.

“You can’t imagine what they’re going through personally,” rookie defenceman Zeev Buium, one of 12 skaters Foote used in overtime, said of the Canuck elders. “Their expectation was probably to go to the playoffs and try to make a push and, obviously, things changed a lot for them. I mean, they were in Game 7 (of the second round) two years ago, right? You probably think you’re contending for a Cup this year. A lot has changed. 

“But I just think those guys have been great. I mean, Fil, J.D. (DeBrusk), all of them, I mean, they’re there for us. I think they’re trying to set a culture here that, you know, needs to be in place for now and forever, and I think they’re doing a great job of it. Things haven’t been easy, but to get wins like this, they mean a lot to us.”

A declining Nashville team loaded with veterans lost to a young Vancouver team that is hopelessly at the bottom of the overall standings. 

Obviously, the Canucks don’t want to be there beyond this season. A comeback win like Thursday against a Predators team still desperately trying to make the playoffs helps fuel hope.

“This starts with the guys getting together, caring about each other and doing it for the guy next to you,” Buium said. “After the last couple of weeks, just with everything going on, after the deadline everything kind of calmed down and we were able to focus on each other. I think that kind of showed out there tonight. You could tell that we weren’t going to give up on each other. It was pretty cool to see the place explode when Fil scored.”

If Buium had only seen it two years ago.