South Carolina basketball fans who don't normally watch the NBA have had a reason to tune in this year. Former Gamecock GG Jackson battled his way from the G-League to the rotation with the Memphis Grizzlies, and the Columbia native has been making history this season.
Since his full-time call-up in January, Jackson has been one of the best rookies in the entire NBA, something that can't usually be said about a player picked in the 2nd round of the draft.
Jackson has had several games in which he put up impressive stat lines that mirrored games of all-time greats when they were young: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, and Tracy McGrady have been some of the only names ever to match Jackson's outside shooting and rebounding production at such a young age.
Now, on Thursday night, he did something that he even those all-time legends never accomplished.
Against the Chicago Bulls, Jackson broke an all-time NBA record by becoming the youngest player (19 years, 53 days old) ever to score 25 or more points off of the bench. The previous record-holder was Kobe Bryant (19 years, 78 days old).
In the game against Chicago, Jackson scored 27 points on 9-18 shooting (making 4-9 from behind the 3-point arc and making 5-6 of his free throws), and he set a new career-high with 9 rebounds. He added an assist, a steal, 3 dunks, and played 32 minutes without committing a single turnover.
(After a short ad), you can watch the highlights from his historic night below.
Jackson has been a good NBA player faster than many envisioned. In games in which he plays at least 20 minutes, Jackson has averaged 16.8 points per game, 5.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1 block, 1 steal, and 2.7 3-pointers on 41% shooting from outside the arc. As the youngest player in the Association, Jackson's early success bodes well for his and the Grizzlies' futures.