Former Alabama high school star records NBA triple-double
Philadelphia 76ers forward Trendon Watford recorded the first triple-double of his NBA career in a 130-120 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night.
The former Mountain Brook High School standout had 20 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists in his first start of the 2025-26 season.
It was an early birthday celebration for Watford, who turned 25 years old on Sunday.
In his fifth NBA season, Watford set career single-game highs in rebounds and assists in 36:30 of court time on Saturday. His previous best for rebounds had been 14, and his previous best for assists had been eight.
Watford had three games with at least 20 points last season for the Brooklyn Nets. On Saturday, Watford made 8-of-10 shots, with one 3-point basket, and sank 3-of-5 free throws.
Watford started ahead of Jabari Walker on Saturday after posting 40 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists off the bench across the previous three contests.
A hamstring injury kept Watford out of the first three games of the season. Saturday’s contest was his sixth of the 2025-26 campaign.
At Mountain Brook, Watford earned first-team All-State recognition three times as the Spartans won the AHSAA Class 7A boys’ basketball championship in each of his final three seasons.
The Alabama Sports Writers Association chose Watford as the state’s Mr. Basketball in 2018 and 2019 as he set the ASHAA career rebounds record with 1,909.
Watford caught on with the Portland Trail Blazers as an undrafted rookie in 2021 after he’d averaged 16.3 points and 7.4 rebounds for LSU in the 2020-21 season.
Watford joined Philadelphia as a free agent in July for a two-year, $5.3 million contract after he averaged 7.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 217 regular-season games across his first four NBA seasons, which were split between Portland and Brooklyn.
The 76ers play the Detroit Pistons at 6:30 p.m. CST Sunday at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
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