In basketball, a player completes a triple-double when they score 10 points or more in three distinct categories, such as steals, points, assists, rebounds, or blocked shots. A player might, for instance, finish the game with a triple-double by scoring 18 points, pulling down 15 rebounds, and setting up 12 shots. Quadruple-doubles, which occur when a player receives 10 or more in four categories, and quintuple-doubles, which occur in five categories, are less frequent.
Methods for Scoring a Triple-Double
Any combination of achievements can result in a triple-double during a basketball session, however, some combos are more inclined to do so than others. The most typical triple-double consists of a point total, a rebound total, and an assist total. There are instances where blocks or steals can be a part of a triple-double, however, they are less often. It is crucial to have a wide range of abilities if you want to get a triple-double.
Why Is It Known as the Triple-Double?
A basketball player that achieves a triple-double has double figures in three distinct statistical categories. The term is derived from the double double. A triple is one more than a double double, which is defined in the basketball academy as obtaining ten or more figures in any two of the five categories. A player need not merely make field goals in order to receive credit for a triple-double. A triple-double can be attained in addition to free throws and three-pointers.
Do Turnovers Contribute to a Triple Double?
A triple-double does not include turnovers, to put it briefly. A player would not be given a triple-double if they had double digits in points, rebounds, and turnovers while also having double figures in other stat categories.
Is There Any Other Kind of “Double” Besides a Triple-Double?
Double Double
Simply put, no. The phrase “double-double” has undoubtedly been used at least once in conversation. A double-double only needs two of the three significant statistical sections to reach double digits, as opposed to a triple-three double’s requirements. Because of this, achieving a double-double over the course of a whole season is a considerably more usual feat.
Quadruple Double
A “quadruple double” is another extraordinary achievement. Double digits in FOUR important statistical categories must be achieved in a single game. Only four players, coincidentally, have ever accomplished this accomplishment in NBA history. They go by the names of David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, Alvin Robertson, and Nate Thurmond.
Quintuple Double
Lastly, there is the idea of the quintuple-double, even if this accomplishment has only been seen in women’s high school basketball championships. Now there are allegations that on March 18, 1968, Wilt Chamberlain truly achieved a quintuple-double in the NBA. There is no way to be absolutely positive that this occurred, though, because nobody was formally documenting steals and blocks back then. The very first quintuple-double to appear in an NBA game has yet to occur, hence this is the case.
The Five Statistical Sub-Groups That Make Up A Triple-Double
- We must go over the fundamentals of basketball statistics in order to explain them adequately. Points, assists, rebounds, steals and blocks are the top five statistics that are monitored in every basketball match and league. The statistics themselves ought to be fairly self-explanatory, however, the NBA did not implement them all at once.
- The earliest stat is the point. Rebounds were added as a significant statistics category four seasons after the 1946–47 season when assists were first formally tracked. Because they were both first used formally in the 1973–74 season, the two main defensive categories—blocks and steals—are the newest.
- Simply recording a double-digit (10 or greater) number in any three significant statistical categories a player chooses during a single game is all it takes to achieve a triple-double. Before the LA media coined the phrase to represent something Magic Johnson was frequently doing on the floor in the 1980s, triple doubles were not even a phenomenon in the NBA.
How Frequently Do NBA Players Score a Triple-Double?
There were 138 unique active members that recorded a triple-double in the 2020–2021 NBA season. The most were tallied by Russell Westbrook with 40, followed by Nikola Jokic belonging to the Denver Nuggets with 17. He was able to win the MVP that year because of his all-star performance. The only player to ever complete a triple-double without scoring at least ten points is Draymond Green. When Green faced the Memphis Grizzlies in 2017, he recorded twelve rebounds, ten assists, and ten steals. One factor in his winning Defensive Player of the Year in that season was his outstanding performance.
What Is By Far the Most Popular Way To Score A Triple-Double?
The most often triple-double will consist of points, rebounds, and assists because those stats are more straightforward to achieve than blocks or steals. Not that there are not any triple-doubles that also encompass other categories. For instance, Hassan Whiteside has racked up four triple-doubles over the course of his career, and each one had a combo of rebounds, blocks, and points!
One player even managed a triple-double without scoring. That player was Draymond Green, who in February 2017 defeated the Grizzlies with a stat line of 12 rebounds, 10 steals, and 10 assists. His remarkable achievement continues to be the only triple-double of this kind in NBA history.
How Common Are Triple-Doubles in the WNBA?
Triple-doubles are more prevalent in the NBA than in the WNBA. Only two triple-doubles have occurred in the playoffs out of the approximately ten that have occurred so far. Courtney Vandersloot and Sheryl Swoops are deadlocked with two triple-doubles each in their professional histories. The only WNBA players to record triple-doubles in playoff contests are Swoops and Vandersloot.
Who Scored the Very First Triple-Double in a Match of Basketball?
Andy Phillip is the first person to achieve a triple-double. The triple-double feat was accomplished on December 14, 1950, when Andy Phillip of the Philadelphia Warriors competed with the Fort Wayne Pacers in a basketball game. He recorded ten rebounds, ten assists, and 17 points during the course of the game.
Which Players Had the Youngest Triple-Double Records?
At the age of 19, LA Melo Ball is indeed the youngest basketball player to ever record a triple-double. LaMelo Ball achieved the feat with 12 rebounds, 11 assists, and 22 points.
What is the NBA Record for the Fastest Triple-Double?
Nikola Joke of the Denver Nuggets completed a triple-double in fourteen minutes and thirty-three seconds. The achievement happened in 2018 during a matchup with the Milwaukee Bucks’ 17 assists, 15 rebounds, and 30 points made up his ultimate stat total. Prior to Nikola Joke, Jim Tucker set the previous record for speed in 1955, taking seventeen minutes.
Conclusion
We are witnessing greater triple-doubles than ever because of the way the game is played now. It will not be long before a few more players add their names to the elite group of athletes who have averaged a triple-double throughout a season.
