Top 5 Sports Facts to Know: December 11, 2019

Whether it’s a monumental milestone or just an interesting occurrence to bring up in a conversation, here are the top sports facts to know from December 11, 2019:

Big Market Teams Have the Advantage

The Angels are putting their resources to use.

Mike Trout ($37.6M) & Anthony Rendon ($35) will account for more combined salary than Tampa Bay’s entire 2019 payroll ($64M) https://t.co/g6rRi0guFg
— Pro Sports Outlook (@PSO_Sports) December 12, 2019

Anthony Rendon and his new teammate Mike Trout will have the two highest average annual values ever for position players.
The Angels become the first team to sign three different players to $200M deals (Rendon, Trout and Albert Pujols). pic.twitter.com/PhrUBM9PKE
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 12, 2019

Anthony Rendon, who finished 3rd in the NL MVP voting, will join reigning AL MVP Mike Trout.
Per @EliasSports, this is just the 2nd time in MLB history that a team with the reigning MVP added a player who finished top 5 in MVP voting the previous season pic.twitter.com/ER7YoEMBV0
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 12, 2019

These 5 Pitchers Dominated the 2010's

These are still some of the best pitchers in the MLB.

A decade of dominance on the mound. pic.twitter.com/FflgsQCHHj
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) December 12, 2019

Harden is Having an Insane Scoring Year

He is one of the greatest scorers ever.

#PlayerOfTheDay James Harden put up his 4th 50-point game of the season, totaling 55 and tied his career-high w/ 10 3PM. He became the 4th player in NBA history to make 10+ 3PM multiple times in a year & is on pace for the most PPG in a season since 1963 (38.0) https://t.co/GFLFFCvIpz
— Pro Sports Outlook (@PSO_Sports) December 12, 2019

James Harden now has a 50-point game against 15 different franchises.

The only players with more are Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, who both did it against 17 franchises. pic.twitter.com/6uvvNWTwn3
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 12, 2019

Devonte' Graham is an All-Star

His breakout season keeps getting better and better.

Devonte’ Graham made history again tonight. He joined 2 other players in NBA history who have made at least 100 threes in 27 games or less to start a season. The list?

Steph Curry
James Harden
Devonte’ Graham
— Jayhawks In The NBA (@NBA_Jayhawks) December 12, 2019

Devonte’ Graham hit 7 threes for the @hornets tonight, giving him 31 3PM in his last five games. That is a new franchise record for three pointers in a span of five games, surpassing Kemba Walker’s prior mark of 26 3PM in 2018 & 2019. pic.twitter.com/3bzEufNEHv
— NBA.com/Stats (@nbastats) December 12, 2019

Lebron James' HOF Resume Grows

The King can’t be stopped.

In this decade (since Jan. 1, 2010)…LeBron James has 5,508 rebounds and 5,506 assists.

James is just the 2nd player in NBA history with at least 5,500 rebounds and 5,500 assists in a single decade.

He joins Oscar Robertson, who accomplished this feat in the 1960s. pic.twitter.com/as9GevTmxh
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 12, 2019

Collecting a triple-double in a 96-87 @Lakers win over the Magic Wednesday night, LeBron James moved alone into 5th on this franchise list of performances despite being early in his 2nd season as a Laker pic.twitter.com/8tRSMCYjIo
— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) December 12, 2019