Triple-Double Trouble
A triple-double is a rare and (usually) well-praised achievement. Over the last 20 years, 162 players have recorded at least one game with double-digits in three statistical categories (none of them are, of course, named Ricky Davis). While it makes sense that more than half were accomplished by point guards with high assist totals, it’s harder to explain how Mark Jackson (14), Damon Stoudamire (6), and Chris Childs (2), to name a few, have more career triple-doubles than Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury, who have only one apiece (at least in the US).
When Rafer Alston notched his first in January — and it’s no small feat to get 10 assists on the New Jersey Nets — he joined the list of the least likely players to record a triple-double in recent NBA history.
Oliver Miller, Phoenix Suns (14 points, 15 rebounds, 11 assists - 02/09/1994): That’s right, Oliver Miller, and I won’t even make the obligatory fat joke here. That was already done for me by Dee Brown three years after Miller’s first and only triple-double, when the 350-plus-pound center vowed to get another one against the Boston Celtics. “Can you believe that? He’s going to get a triple double? A triple cheeseburger, maybe.” Miller just barely missed it, too — by 10 points, 6 assists, and 2 rebounds.
Anthony Bowie, Orlando Magic (20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists - 3/19/1996): Bowie grabbed his tenth rebound and called timeout with 2.7 seconds left in the game…with Orlando up by 20 points. Desperate for a triple-double, he designed his own play in the huddle to then record his tenth assist. Outraged Pistons coach Doug Collins — clearly not from Jerry Sloan’s school of hard knocks — instructed his players to stand at the side of the court and not even contest Bowie’s cheap stat-padding.
Rodney White, Denver Nuggets (17 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists - 03/24/2003): Number of times White recorded double-digit rebounds in his 218-game NBA career? One. Double-digit assists? One. To say this was the game of a lifetime for one of the biggest busts in league history would be an understatement, considering White averaged 7.1 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists before finding himself out of the league in 2005 at the age of 24.
Brian Shaw, Orlando Magic (11 points, 10 assists and 10 rebounds - 12/29/95): Shaw recorded his triple-double in garbage time of a 24-point blowout against the Clippers (then again, when isn’t it garbage time against the Clippers?), which lead to this “Shaw Destroys Clippers” headline the next day. Um, right. Not so fun fact: he was once traded for equally crappy, undersized PG Sherman Douglas, who somehow registered his only triple-double during the same season.
Bob Sura, Atlanta Hawks (twice - 2003/2004): It’s odd to list Sura on this list, since he narrowly missed becoming the 12th player in NBA history to post three consecutive triple-doubles before his last one was disallowed (at least he shot at the right basket). Traded from the Pistons, with whom he put up 3.8 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.7 assists, to Atlanta at the deadline, Sura averaged an Oscar Roberston-esque 14.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 5.7 assists in 27 games as a Hawk. I’m still not sure how or if it even really happened.
Chris Duhon, Chicago Bulls (18 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds - 11/02/05): No one would question 12 assists from a starting point guard on a good team, and maybe even a game with 10 boards (his one and only) are within reach. But there’s no way any Knicks fan who’s watched Duhon shoot a historically miserable 34% from the field in 58 games this season will buy that he once scored 18 points in a single game.
Blue Edwards, Vancouver Grizzlies (15 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists - 3/1/1996): Edwards, who averaged a pedestrian 10.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, and two assists over 10 seasons, recorded the first triple-double in Grizzlies history. But an even more amazing stat is that he beat out Shawn Kemp to become the first NBA player to have a movie about one of his illegitimate children. Yes, his late-90’s child custody case in Vancouver led to a 2009 film on the Canadian Television Network. Seriously.
Dishonorable Mention:
Williams has as many Raptors triple-doubles as Vince Carter...and Charles Oakley.
*Kevin Gamble, Boston Celtics (23 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists - 3/16/1993): Fact: prior to 1997, only four players in Boston Celtics history had ever recorded a triple double –Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Dennis Johnson…and Kevin Gamble (9.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists for his career).
*Rumeal Robinson, New Jersey Nets (twice, 1993): Robinson lasted six season in the NBA with six teams, averaging 7.6 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 3.5 assists, notching triple-doubles in the only two double-digit rebound games of his career.
*Alvin Williams, Toronto Raptors (11 points, 10 rebounds, 14 assists - 3/23/01): Williams, despite an injury-riddled career in which he played just three games over his final three seasons, had a few decent years in Toronto. What’s hard to believe is that his triple double from nine years ago is the most recent one recorded by a Raptor, a span during which 15 players have recorded one against Toronto.
