Triple-Double Difficulty
Last night, LeBron James set Madison Square Garden ablaze as he lit up the Knicks for 52 points AND posted a triple-double. For you non-basketball fans, a triple-double is a lot harder to accomplish than it is to understand.
Simply, a triple-double is when a basketball player posts double-digit statistics (10+) in three separate categories. The most common categories for a triple-double are points, rebounds, and assists. Other categories may be included such as steals and blocked shots, but it is rare to achieve 10+ steals or blocks in a game. Point guards like Jason Kidd have accomplished triple-doubles with steals and centers like Marcus Camby have posted triple-doubles with blocked shots, but they are few and far between.
Monday night, Kobe Bryant scored 61 points against the Knicks, setting a record for a player in Madison Square Garden, but LeBron’s achievement is a little more impressive because the triple-double indicates he was doing a lot more than just scoring.
Oscar Robertson has the most career triple-doubles with 181, but steals and blocked shots weren’t recorded until the mid-70s in the NBA, so they are likely several more triple-doubles not acknowledged over the earlier decades of the NBA.
Double-doubles (2 categories of double-digit stats) are frequently tracked in the NBA as a way to gauge the performance of forwards and centers. 10+ points and 10+ rebounds on a consistent basis is a good way to judge a “big man’s” effort.
Bonus stat: The last quadruple-double (4 categories of double-digit stats) in the NBA was David Robinson in 1994 with 34 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and 10 blocks. (Source: http://home.swbell.net/hartley4/quads.htm)
Read on:
NBA.com – Jason Kidd’s 100 Triple-Doubles
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