wilt chamberlain had the most triple doubles in a season nba history.
wilt chamberlain had the most triple doubles in a season nba history.
most triple doubles in a season nba history?
wilt chamberlain
forty-one games into the season, westbrook was averaging 30.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 10.5 assists per game, marking the latest anyone had averaged a triple-double since robertson in 1966–67, when he became the first player to average a triple-double for an entire season (30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 11.4 assists). on january 15, 2017, westbrook had 36 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his 20th triple-double of the season, as he helped the thunder defeat the sacramento kings 122–118. he joined robertson (five times) and wilt chamberlain (twice) as the only players in nba history to record 20 triple-doubles in a season. his 21st triple-double of the season came on january 18 in a loss to former teammate durant and the golden state warriors. on january 23, westbrook hit a pull-up jumper with 1.4 seconds left to lift the thunder to a 97–95 win over the utah jazz. he finished with 38 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his 22nd triple-double of the season and no. 59 for his career, tying larry bird for fifth on the career list. two days later, he had 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in a 114–105 win over the new orleans pelicans, thus passing bird with his 60th career triple-double. heading into all-star weekend, westbrook was averaging 31.1 points, 10.5 rebounds and 10.1 assists in 57 games. westbrook went on to record three straight triple-doubles coming out of the all-star break, giving him 67 for his career and 30 on the season. on march 7, westbrook's career-high 58 points was not enough to lift the thunder over the portland trail blazers, losing 126–121. his 31st triple-double of the season, which came on march 9 against the san antonio spurs, matched wilt chamberlain's 1967–68 campaign for the second-most in a season. he surpassed chamberlain's record with his 32nd triple-double on march 11 against the jazz. westbrook went on to tie robertson's single-season record of 41 triple-doubles on april 4 against the milwaukee bucks. westbrook also moved into a tie with chamberlain for fourth on the career list with his 78th triple-double. three days later, he joined robertson (in 1961–62) as the only players in nba history to average a triple-double for a season, needing just six assists against the phoenix suns to clinch the triple-double average. his historic 42nd triple-double, to break robertson's record of most triple-doubles in a season, came in a 106–105 away victory against the denver nuggets on april 9. westbrook scored 18 of his 50 points in the last five minutes, including a 36-foot game-winning buzzer-beater, to overcome a 14-point deficit. as a result, westbrook moved into fourth place for most triple-doubles in nba history with 79, surpassing chamberlain's 78. it was his third career 50-point triple-double, all of which came in 2016–17, the most by any player in nba history. the thunder finished the regular season with a 47–35 record and entered the playoffs as the no. 6 seed.
russell westbrook
on december 31, 2016, harden recorded yet another triple-double with 53 points, 17 assists and 16 rebounds in a 129–122 win over the new york knicks, becoming the first player in nba history to finish with a 50-15-15 stat line. he tied wilt chamberlain for the most points in a triple-double in nba history—chamberlain pulled the feat during the 1967–68 season, with 53 points, 32 rebounds and 14 assists. harden set career highs for points and three-pointers (with nine) and matched his career best for assists. it was his 17th career triple-double and his fourth career 50-point game. two days later, he recorded his ninth triple-double of the season in a win over the washington wizards and was named western conference player of the week for a third time. it was harden's 12th player of the week honor, matching hakeem olajuwon for the most player of the week awards in franchise history. harden's career-best december run earned him western conference player of the month honors. his 10th and 11th triple-doubles came in back-to-back games on january 8 and 10, both resulting in wins. his two performances saw him become the fourth player in nba history with at least 40 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in consecutive games—pete maravich, michael jordan and russell westbrook are the three others to do it. his 12th and 13th triple-doubles came in back-to-back games on january 15 and 17. on january 27, he recorded his 14th triple-double of the season with 51 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists in a 123–118 win over the philadelphia 76ers, becoming the first player in nba history with multiple 50-point triple-doubles in a season. on february 3 against the chicago bulls, harden scored his 10,000th point as a rocket, passing yao ming for sixth place in franchise history. on february 11, he scored 40 points in three quarters (his ninth 40-point game of the season) to help the rockets win 133–102 over the phoenix suns. he played just 29 minutes against the suns to become the first rockets player since sleepy floyd in 1991 to score 40 points in less than 30 minutes. on february 15, he recorded his 15th triple-double of the season with 38 points 12 rebounds and 12 assists in a 117–109 loss to the miami heat. between march 12 and 18, he had four straight triple-doubles, giving him 19 for the season. he finished the regular season with 22 triple-doubles and became the first player in nba history to finish the regular season with at least 2,000 points (2,356), 900 assists (907) and 600 rebounds (659). he placed second in league mvp voting to former teammate westbrook.
james harden