The most incredible moments of the 2022-23 NBA regular season
With the surpassing of greats, elite shooting nights, and the end of the road for a franchise legend, the NBA regular season was full of historic moments.
Here are the five finest moments of this year's NBA regular season!
Dallas Mavericks Luka Doncic had a magical night in December last year, recording 60 points, 21 rebounds, and ten assists in an overtime win against the New York Knicks.
Doncic's historic game broke his personal and league-wide record, becoming the first player in NBA history to record a 60/20/10 game.
The European star surpassed Dirk Nowitzki's franchise record of 53 points and became the first player since Shaquille O'Neal in 2000 to record 60 points and 20 rebounds.
It was the end of an era on the final day of the NBA regular season, as 20-year veteran Udonis Haslem closed his NBA career with 24 points in 25 minutes.
Haslem started his career with The Heat in 2003, becoming integral for three championship-winning teams. Despite his time on the court depleting in the last seven years, his voice and leadership have been integral to Miami's group of players.
After scoring the most points he has registered since 2009, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said, "I'm going to miss his spirit, I'm going to miss his voice. I'm going to miss his intentions. He has incredibly pure team intentions, according to espn.com.
At the start of 2023, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell erupted for a career-high 71 points, becoming the seventh player in NBA history to score more than 70.
In a season full of high-scoring nights, Mitchell joined the list of five players to record 71 points or more, including Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, David Thompson, David Robinson, and Elgin Baylor.
According to nba.com, Mitchell said: "I'm extremely blessed and humbled that I'm in that company, in that group. I've always believed I can be one of the best players in this league."
The seventh player to join the 71 points or more club was Portland's Damian Lillard, recording a career-high and franchise record of 71 points in a victory over Houston in February 2023.
Lillard's 71 points were more historic than Mitchell's, becoming the only player aged 30 or older to score 70 points in NBA history.
His historic moment was just shy of being ever more impressive, scoring 13 three-pointers in the game, one behind Klay Thompson's NBA record of 14 three-pointers in a single game.
The finest and single-handedly one of the greatest moments in NBA history was when LeBron James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA's all-time leading scorer.
Abdul-Jabbar set the record in April 1984 and finished his career with 38,387. It seemed unbreakable, but James' 38 points against Oklahoma City Thunder in February was enough to pass the great man.
The game will be remembered in years to come, as Abdul-Jabbar ceremoniously handed over the ball to James to recognize his new record on the center court of the Crypto.com Arena.