A great deal of the Golden State Warriors' success can be alluded to the presence of Andre Iguodala. The veteran swingman could easily be a starter for any other NBA team, yet he remains as a luxury to the Warriors off the bench.
Known for his multi-faceted game, the former NBA Finals MVP owns bragging rights for a rare statistical feat that has been achieved only six times and that is registering a 10/10/10 triple-double — he did it twice. Other than Iguodala, a 33 percent shareholder of the exclusive 10/10/10 club who had one in 2005, as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, and another in 2012, wearing a Denver Nuggets uniform (fun fact: both were completed at home against the Detroit Pistons), the list features a couple of other notable names.
Anfernee Hardaway broke the ice in 2003 and became the first modern era player to finish the game with such an insubstantial triple-double. It took him 41 minutes to scrape up 10 points, 10 assists, and 10 rebounds in a blowout win against a Mavericks team that would later become the second seed in the West. This was the sixth, and the final triple-double of Penny’s career — one of the most prominent “what could have been” storylines in the history of the league.
Besides Iguodala, there are currently two other active player who pride themselves with being so surgically accurate in adding a triple-double to their track record. The first one is Kyle Lowry, who barely managed to reach it by scoring two 3-pointers in the last 2:30 of an overtime game against the Milwaukee Bucks in 2013.
The other is Hassan Whiteside, whose amazing shot erasing performance is probably still fresh in the Miami Heat fans' minds. He blocked ten shots in just 27 minutes off the bench, and managed to get just enough rebounds and points to submit the most recent triple-double of his career. The precise 10/10/10 with blocks is a feat we likely won't be seeing anytime soon.
Of course, no such list is really complete without the triple-double machine personified in Jason Kidd, who also managed to snatch one back in 2006. It really is no surprise he’s a part of this group; there’s a pretty high probability that one of his 107 triple-doubles will match any criteria, not just this one. Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson would surely be in the talks as well if there was sufficient data on their triple-doubling sprees from back in the day.
Delving deeper into the idea of “symmetrical” triple-doubles provides some interesting results as well. Other than the six 10/10/10's, the NBA has also had three 11/11/11's courtesy of Larry Bird , Mark Jackson, and Goran Dragic.
Notice the pattern? It looks as though we are just three seasons away from another performance with precisely 11 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists, the once-in-a-decade occurrence.
On the other hand, the 12/12/12 list features one name that is pretty much expected in this context in Magic Johnson who did it 42 minutes against the San Antonio Spurs in '84. The other player to register such numbers is a rare triple-double mention in Vin Baker. In fact, his performance against the Charlotte Hornets is his only triple double over his 13-year career.
Naturally, someone had to had to top it all off and set the bar even higher, and who other than the great Larry Bird. Judging by the already mentioned 11/11/11 performance and the lucky 13/13/13 triple-double he recorded against the L.A. Clippers in '84, Larry Legend really bought into the idea of going to Los Angeles, winning, and recording the exact same number of points, rebounds and assists. Who knows, maybe that was just another version of subliminal trash-talking for him.
There have been some close calls this past season as well; one of the Russell Westbrook's 42 triple-doubles was a 12/13/13 against the Bucks, which inspired Giannis Antetokounmpo to put up a 10/11/10 just six days later. Statistically, the list of symmetrical triple-doubles is bound to expand, so keep a close eye on whether someone joins Iggy's 10/10/10 group or challenges Bird's historical triple-doubles in the forthcoming season.
Follow Us
Subscribe