Basketball: Kemba Walker becomes first player to post Christmas triple double for New York Knicks

Kemba Walker was all smiles during the New York Knicks' win over the Atlanta Hawks on Christmas Day. Photo / Getty Images

NBA star Kemba Walker has written himself into the New York Knicks history books.

For all the accolades in the storied franchise's history, they had never had a player post a triple double in a Christmas Day game, in a league-high 53 fixtures on the date.

Walker changed that this year, posting 10 points 10 rebounds and 12 assists in the Knicks' 101-87 win over the Atlanta Hawks at Madison Square Garden on Sunday (NZ time).

The 31-year-old became just the seventh player to post a triple double in a Christmas Day game, following Draymond Green, Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Oscar Robertson, Billy Cunningham and John Havlicek.

It's the latest chapter in a rather remarkable resurgence for Walker. Brought in by the Knicks before the start of the year to be their first-choice point guard, Walker started the season strong, but his form soon slumped. Not meeting team expectations with his performances, Walker found himself out of the game-day rotation completely as fellow veteran Alec Burks assumed the starting role.

However, with the NBA being so heavily impacted by Covid-19 and every team having new players unavailable due to Covid-19 protocols seemingly every day, the Knicks were forced to turn to Walker again as one of their only available point guards – and the four-time NBA all-star has not wasted his second opportunity in the rotation.

In four games since his return to the court, Walker is averaging 26 points 8 rebounds and 7 assists in 40 minutes per game, after a 10-game stretch during which he did not take to the court at all.

Walker's resurgence is just one of the many intriguing storylines brought about by the NBA's Covid-19 protocols, with a growing number of veteran players being brough back into the league on short-term deals to fills gaps in rosters.

Among those players, the Boston Celtics recently signed 17-year veteran Joe Johnson, with the 40-year-old having not played in the NBA since the 2017-18 season, while the LA Lakers called on the services of point guard Darren Collison, who retired from the NBA in 2019.

As it stands, more than 100 players are currently in the NBA's COVID-19 health and safety protocols, and the league has been forced to postpone several games as a result. Despite the impact it is having, NBA commissioner Adam Silver confirmed in a recent interview with ESPN that the league had no intention of putting the season on hold.