NBA All-Time Records: 10 Most Unbreakable NBA Records

NBA records are falling like dominoes in the three-point shooting era, but some records look more untouchable with each year of the league's evolution. Small ball means more long-distance shooting and flashy passing, but less shot blocking and outrageous rebounding totals. Some records are made to be broken over and over again, but others look like they will stand forever.

A few honourable mentions before starting with the tenth most unbreakable record in NBA history: any shooting record set by Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson (no shooting records are safe in the three-point era, especially while the Splash Brothers are still active and continue breaking each other's records), Jose Calderon's 98.1% free throw shooting in 2008-09, Michael Jordan's perfect finals record, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 38,387 career points (LeBron James and Kevin Durant are on pace to surpass this), The 2015-16 Warriors' 73-9 record, and Robert Parish's 1,611 career games played.

#10. 33-Game Winning Streak - 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers

The 71-72 Lakers were stacked with talent headlined by Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, and Gail Goodrich. The eventual champions set an NBA record by winning 33 games consecutively between November 5th, 1971 and January 7th, 1972.

Only five other teams have enjoyed a 20-game winning streak in the history of the league: Golden State* (28 games, 2015) Miami (27 games, 2013), Houston (22 games, 2008), The Washington Capitals* (20 games, 1948), and Milwaukee (20 games, 1971).

If LeBron James' 66-win big three Heat or Steph Curry's 73-win Warriors couldn't break this record, then it probably won't be broken any time soon. Win streaks are tough in the NBA, good teams lose to bad teams all the time as fatigue sets in and injuries take their toll; even winning just ten straight games is a rare feat. This one has stood for decades, and there's no reason to think it will be broken any time soon.

*Streak spanned over two seasons.

#9. 30 Assists in a Single Game - Scott Skiles

Skiles isn't the first name you consider when thinking of NBA legends, he played ten seasons with five different teams and his biggest career accolade is winning most improved player in 1990-91.

Despite never being an all-star, never averaging ten assists for a season, and retiring with a career average of 6.5 assists per game, Skiles amazed the world when he set an NBA record 30 assists against the Denver Nuggets in 1990. Skiles and the 6-23 Magic scored 155 points with 61 made field goals against the Nuggets as Skiles set one of the most unexpected records in NBA history.

30 isn't an entirely untouchable mark - John Stockton set a career-high of 28 assists in the '90s, and Rajon Rondo leads a pack of modern players who have exceeded 20 assists in a game. Pace is at a 30-year high in the NBA and players have more chances per game to approach this milestone, but it will still be nearly impossible for any player to reach it.

#8. Seasons Averaging a Triple-Double - Russell Westbrook

Oklahoma City Thunder v Sacramento Kings

Westbrook did the unthinkable in 2016-17 when he became the first player since Oscar Robertson to average a triple-double for an entire season. Westbrook followed up his accomplishment by doing the same thing the following season to become the only player to ever average a triple-double for two full seasons.

He also set an NBA record for most triple-doubles in a single season with 42. Westbrook was rewarded for his rare achievement in 2016-17 by winning the MVP. Westbrook is on track to average a triple-double again this season with averages of 20.2 points, 10.8 rebounds and 10.3 assists per game.

Lots of players flirt with triple-doubles and average good all-around numbers in the box score, but nobody can fill it up like Westbrook. This is another achievement that may be broken someday, but it could just as easily last for another 50 years just like Robertson's mark did.

#7. 88 Games Played in a Season - Walt Bellamy

Walt Bellamy set one of the weirdest NBA records in 1968 when he played a total of 88 games in an 82-game season. Weird, right? But not quite impossible.

Bellamy started the season playing 35 games for New York before being traded to Detroit. Detroit had played just 29 games for the season when the trade occurred, and therefore Bellamy had a chance to play in their remaining 53 games to take his season total to 88. He successfully completed his season without missing a game, even in the transition period between changing teams, to set a record that will be nearly impossible to break.

The circumstances under which this record was set are incredibly rare and bizarre. In the modern NBA, players rest less and aren't as inclined to play through minor injuries, so even 82 games in a season is rarely seen anymore.

Combine that with the infrequency of mid-season trades, and the unlikelihood of modern players not missing a game when changing teams, and it's easy to see why this will probably never happen again.

#6. 15,806 Career Assists and 3,265 Career Steals - John Stockton

John Stockton is one of the best point guards of all time thanks to his near-flawlessness as a passer and on-ball defender. Stockton looked nothing like a basketballer - he looked more like a gardener, or an accountant, or maybe a lawyer - but he owned the point guard position as well as anyone who has ever played the game; the proof lies within these two records.

Stockton played 19 seasons - all for the Utah Jazz and all next to Karl Malone - and missed a total of just 22 games in that span; he played every game in 17 of his 19 NBA seasons. After playing 19 years mostly at an elite standard while barely missing a game it is no wonder Stockton's assist and steal totals are so far above all the other all-time NBA greats.

Jason Kidd is second on the all-time assists tally with 12,091, not even close to Stockton. Longevity is a big factor in Stockton's record, but he only played 113 more games than Kidd, so don't put this record just down to that. Chris Paul - who is literally nicknamed The Point God - is the active assists leader with 8,904. Paul has an extraordinarily long way to go to reach this record and he's already fighting off father time and hamstring injuries.

Stockton's record steals total will also stand for decades to come. He recorded 3,265 for his career, a whopping 581 more than Kidd in second place. Paul is also the active leader in this category with 2,060.

#5. 60 Points in a Final NBA Game - Kobe Bryant

Mamba out. Kobe Bryant etched his name in the history books regularly, but he saved arguably his most jaw-dropping and unfathomable moment for his last game. Kobe scored 60 in his last game, which easily sets the mark for highest individual score in a final NBA game.

The record was once owned by Jordan Crawford after he scored 41 points in 41 minutes of a meaningless game to end Golden State's 2014 regular season. Crawford, a scorer with too many flaws to be an effective NBA player, played hardly any minutes for Golden State but played almost the full game right before playoffs as the Warriors rested most of their starters and relevant bench players.

Among the NBA's 50 greatest players of all time - a group of 50 recognized as part of the NBA's 50th anniversary - John Havlicek's 29 points in 1978 is the highest mark for a player in their final game.

That list is outdated, but modern legends such as Tim Duncan, Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Shaquille O'Neal, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, and many others can't even top Havlicek's 29 points, let alone Kobe's 60.

Given that most players - even most NBA legends - never score 60 points in a game, it is pretty unlikely that any player will ever do so again in their final game when they are battling age and a worn-down body.

A player of Kobe's status hoisting 50+ field goal attempts during a farewell game is the only real chance of this record being broken, but Kobe's final game situation was the script of a movie, it's something we'll never see again, and as such, this record is all but untouchable.

#4. 11 Championships - Bill Russell

Bill Russell celebrates one of his eleven championships

Russell's legacy all stems from his unprecedented 11 championships in 13 seasons during the 50's and 60's. Russell led the Celtics to championships in 1957, 1959, 1960-1966, 1968 and 1969; he was a player-coach for the last two.

Russell did all of this in a time when there was less overall talent and fewer teams in the league, making his near-annual run to the NBA championship slightly easier. However, even if the majority of the competition was weaker, Russell still had to often go through Wilt Chamberlain in the NBA Finals.

The really impressive part of this record is the constant domination over Wilt he had to deliver in order to set it. Despite being heralded as the better player, Chamberlain's playoff record against Russell was 20-29, and he won just two championships to Russell's eleven.

Robert Horry has seven championships to his name, which is the most by any player who wasn't a teammate of Bill Russell on the Celtics. Horry needed a whole lot of good luck and timing to win seven, and even still that doesn't come close to eleven.

Even the all-time greats can't compete with this record. Michael Jordan could have approached this record if he never retired to play baseball, but he still would have certainly fallen short; he and Scottie Pippen won six titles together on the Bulls to barely reach half of Russell's total.

#3. 100 Points in a Game - Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain smiles after his 100-point game

You might argue that this should top the list as the most unbreakable record of all time, but this record isn't quite unbreakable.

Wilt's mark of 100 points stands as an important part of NBA lore, and it seems unrealistic to even imagine a world in which a second player has hit triple digits in a game, but we've seen one man named Kobe come extremely close already.

Kobe's 81 points in 2006 is the only real challenge to this record to date, but the league is full of professional scorers and the league-wide pace is at a 30-year high. If Kobe's 81-point game happened in a game with today's pace, he would have edged closer to triple figures and maybe even reached it with an overtime period.

That's still a lot of factors to add to an 81-point game which is already mental, but the possibility is there at least, unlike a few other records. David Robinson, David Thompson, Elgin Baylor, and Devin Booker are the only players besides Wilt and Kobe to drop 70 points in a game; Thompson is the closest at 73 points.

Chamberlain set this record as a Philadelphia Warrior in 1962 against The Knicks. He scored 100 points with 36/63 shooting and finished 28/32 at the free throw line. Chamberlain owns the majority of the individual records in the league, but this record is his crowning achievement.

#2. Everything Else by Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt Chamberlain's name will always feature heavily in the record books

The 100-point game might be broken someday in the distant future, but Wilt will always have a majority share of the NBA record books. Chamberlain currently owns 72 NBA records, 68 of which are individual records. Here are some of the most unbreakable records he owns, which have comfortably stood for over 50 years.

Most points per game in a season (50.4ppg, 1961-62)
Most 40 and 50-point games in a season (63 and 45, 1961-62)
Most career regular-season 60, 50 and 40-point games (32, 118, 271)
Most consecutive 60, 50, 40, 30, and 20-point games (four, 1961; seven, 1961; 14, 1961 and 1962; 65, 1961 through 1962; 126, 1961 through 1963)
Most points per game by a rookie (37.6, 1959-60)
Highest career rebounding average (22.9 per game)
Highest season rebounding average (27.2 per game, 1960-61)
Most rebounds in a single game (55, 1960)
Highest rookie season rebounding average (27.0, 1959-60)
Most consecutive double-doubles (227, 1964-1967)
Only player to lead the league in points, assists and rebounds in a single season (1967-68)
Only player to ever record a double-triple-double with at least 20 points, rebounds and assists (22 points, 25 rebounds, 21 assists, 1968)
Only player to ever record a double-quadruple with at least 40 points and rebounds (he accomplished this eight times)
Most minutes per game in a single season (48.5, 1961-62. Chamberlain exceeded 48 per game due to overtime periods; he played every minute in 79 out of his 80 games)
Most minutes per game for a career (45.8)

Chamberlain holds a host of other records which aren't as untouchable as this collection, including a plethora of playoff, rookie all-star game, and career records. This man will never be erased from the record books.

#1. 41 Technical Fouls in a Season - Rasheed Wallace

This isn't the most exciting record to top the list, but it is completely unbreakable. Rasheed Wallace was known for his fiery temper, and he became the NBA's most notorious technical foul receiver of all time.

Wallace, starting power forward for the 2004 champion Detroit Pistons, averaged a technical foul every other game in 2000-01 to finish the season with a total of 41. Wallace famously got ejected from a game for simply staring at the official, which he declared was an intimidation tactic by Wallace for which he wouldn't stand.

While the NBA has its fair share of guys with short tempers who seem to love racking up tech fouls (Dwight Howard, DeMarcus Cousins, Draymond Green, Rudy Gobert, Kevin Durant etc.) none of them will ever come close to breaking this record.

The NBA under David Stern's leadership implemented a rule that would see players suspended following their 16th technical foul in a single season. A few players have reached that mark and been forced to serve suspensions, but the rule has kept players from ever approaching Sheed's record of 41.

This record truly will live forever as the league has come a long way in limiting technical fouls and improving player-referee relations to a point where technical fouls are a rarer occurrance.

Edited by Rahul Arun