Martin Luther King Day is always a highlight of an NBA season. The tributes follow one another, the players wear dedicated overshirts, the matches follow one another for more than 12 hours… all to broadcast a message that goes beyond the scope of the prosecution. But based on the field alone, many players honored the pastor, putting out an all-time performance on the third Monday of January. Before this 2026 marathon which we hope is tasty, in front of the TV or directly on site thanks to our partner Helloticketshere is a Top 5 of players who particularly stood out during MLK Day in the NBA!
In addition to marking the shift between the first and second half of the season and its historical and social significance, MLK Day is an unmissable event for NBA fans around the globe. For Europeans, it’s one of the rare opportunities of the year to turn on your TV at 7 p.m. and spend the turn of the dial on the sofa watching quality matches. The oldest remember the first marathons on Sport+logically then taken up on BeIN Sports. The third Monday in January is a sacred day in more than one way.
And for those lucky guys who are currently out and about on the other side of the Atlantic, today’s matches may catch your eye. Good news, the Hellotickets platform allows you to buy tickets to see Knicks – Mavericks on MLK Day on a 100% secure site and entirely in French. The view from the seat is even offered to help you choose your location at Madison Square Garden and the tickets are digitalized to avoid hassle when sending them. If you’re in the city that never sleeps this January, this is the type of gift that’s remembered for 50 years. And if that’s not enough to convince you, here are the Top 5 of the greatest individual performances sent on the occasion of this day of memory.
#5 : Dwight Howard vs Los Angeles Clippers (2016)
Superman’s stats: 36 points, 26 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 interception and 1 block at 11/16 shooting.
There are stats sheets that smell of finesse, others of poetry… and then there is this one, which smells of fresh concrete and construction dust. 36 points, 26 reboundsit’s a performance from another era, one where racket was a territory to conquer and where you paid for your drive in two installments without fees. The most beautiful thing in history? That match, Howard took him out in a match where the Clippers were spraying like arsonists… and despite everything, he continued to collect rebounds as if they were pieces in Mario Kart.
#4 : Blake Griffin vs Indiana Pacers (2011)
Blake Griffin’s stats: 47 points, 14 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block at 19/24 shooting.
MLK Day 2011 was the day rookie Blake Griffin got up in “what if I had the game of my life?” “. 47 points, 14 reboundsand above all 19/24 shooting : indecent efficiency, the kind of evening where the opposing defense has the impression of defending a player under a cheat code. What makes it even more WTF is the context: he had just been ejected the day before, and he responds with a clean, crisp, surgical butchery. The kind of reaction that ends up as a poster in a room.
#3 : James Harden vs Indiana Pacers (2015)
El Barbudo’s stats: 45 points, 7 assists, 4 interceptions and 1 block at 12/18 shooting.
That’s vintage James Harden: you look at the number of shots, you look at the points… and you understand that the guy decided to save everyone time. 45 points in 18 shotswith the bonus of the very dirty line which accompanies the performance (7 passes, 4 interceptions, 1 block). This is the typical game where Harden puts Indiana on a drip of stepbacks and throws, giving you the impression that every possession is logical for him and unfair for the others. Efficient, clean, violent: exactly the kind of performance that has its place in a Top 5 MLK Day.
#2 : Gilbert Arenas vs Utah Jazz (2007)
Agent Zero’s stats: 51 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 interception at 17/32 shooting.
If MLK Day is theater, then Gilbert Arenas created one of the best scenes in history. 51 pointsalready, it’s carnage. But above all: this tir au buzzer to crucify Jazz, with the celebration that goes with it, the total confidence. This match is not just a huge stat line, but a moment that remains stuck in NBA memory.
#1 : Damian Lillard vs Golden State Warriors (2020)
Dame Dolla’s stats: 61 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 interception at 17/37 shooting.
The boss, the record, the evening that made everyone agree. 61 points on an MLK Day, that’s already a phrase that stands on its own. But Lillard didn’t just score: he turned the game into a 48-minute recital, with a mix of impossible shots, composure and sequences where you feel like the defense knows what’s coming… and can’t do anything. This game has become such a modern benchmark that it has served as a measuring stick for every MLK Day since.
And since 2020, has it changed or not? Spoiler: it pushes, but it doesn’t tip over.
Since COVID, several boxes have tried to force the door. Devin Booker scored 48 points against the Spurs in 2022, just to remind us that Phoenix also knows how to turn a January afternoon into an inferno. In 2023, Jayson Tatum opened the ball with 51 points, joining this very exclusive club of more than 50 points on an MLK Day. And then there is LeBron James, eternally faithful to the position: 48 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds, a classic, clean demonstration, without needing to do too much.
The real recent novelty, the one to slip in in the blink of an eye, is CJ McCollum in 2025. 45 points, an overtime, and above all a victory for the Pelicans after being led by 25 points, in what is the biggest comeback in their history. It doesn’t dethrone the all-time Top 5, but it reminds us of one thing: MLK Day always has this talent for throwing parties out of nowhere. In short, the Top 5 is not moving… but the tradition is very much alive. And the next person who wants to become a legend knows the recipe: aim for the absurd, aim for the iconic, and leave a mark that goes beyond the simple stats line.
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To the privileged few who will be in the United States this Monday, MLK Day NBA tickets are available on the Hellotickets platform. You’ll send us a story live from the Chase Center when Stephen Curry hits a classic against Jimmy Butler’s former teammates.
