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Triple-doubles have forever been a mark of elite-level all-round basketball. However, with time, the ease of collecting double-digit points, rebounds and assists have arguably seen an apparent uptick. As the Father of TDs, Oscar Robertson summed it up aptly,
"During our time, we couldn't expect to kick the ball out to the three-point line in order to get an assist .. you had to always pass it to someone who was moving towards the basket. Well, that's how the game has changed."
The aforementioned notion is backed by the fact that the modern-day basketball floor is spreading away from the basket. Players are slipping past the three-point line and the spacing in the paint and/or under the rim has seen a major tectonic shift.
With that in mind, let's take a look at the only six players in the history of the NBA to have scored a 50-point triple-double - a feat worth applauding.
#6 Richie Guerin
In only his second season with the Knicks, Richie Guerin made the NBA All-Star Team for the first of six straight years. After dishing out a (then) team-record 21 assists against St. Louis on December 12, 1958, he averaged a career-high 29.5 points per game during the 1961-62 regular season in a Knicks uniform, followed by a fine season in 1962–63, wherein he averaged a team-leading 21.5 points.
His only career 50-point triple-double came in 1962 (when he recorded 50 points, 11 boards and 13 dimes playing against Philly) in what proved to be his last season at New York as he ended up getting traded to the St. Louis Hawks for cash and a second-round draft choice.
Guerin ended up coaching St Louis/Atlanta Hawks from 1964–1972 and his stint included the 'Coach of the Year' honour in 1968.
#5 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Before the 28-year-old joined the storied Lakers franchise in 1975, he had already made an indelible mark during his time in Milwaukee. The 19-time All-Star gave the mean streets their first and last taste of a hard-fought 50-point triple-double, scoring exactly 50 points along with 15 rebounds and 11 assists on January 19th, 1975 against Portland.
With 6 NBA titles, 6 NBA regular-season MVPs, 2 NBA Finals MVPs, 10-time All-NBA First Team & 5-time NBA All-Defensive First Team appearances under his belt, Kareem's resume speaks for itself. He was arguably the most feared scorer in a Bucks and Lakers uniform combined.
His trademark "skyhook" was regarded as the most unguardable move in NBA history, using which he piled up a heap of 38,387 points, a mark yet to be accomplished by any player that has followed.
#4 Wilt Chamberlain
Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain is known for a plethora of his accomplishments on the court, one of them being the famous 100 point game. Standing at 7-foot-1 and weighing 275 pounds, Wilt was a beast on the basketball court.
His scoring average of 50.4 points per game during the 1961-62 regular season (playing 80 games) is the most ever by any player in a single year and it's highly unlikely that it'll be bested anytime soon.
In terms of 50-point TDs, Chamberlain had two to his name - one where he dropped 51/29/11 against Detroit in February of 1963 while the other came against the Lakers in 1968 with him putting together eye-popping numbers in 53 points, 32 rebounds and 14 assists.
When Wilt decided to hang his boots in 1973, he was boasting superhuman career-averages of 30 points and 22.4 rebounds per game.
#3 Elgin Baylor
When Baylor won the 'Rookie of the Year' award in 1959, he was fourth in the league in scoring (24.9ppg) as well as third in rebounding (15.0 pg) and eighth in assists (4.1 apg), showing right away how he could impact all aspects of the game. He averaged as high as 38.3 points per game during the 1961-62 regular season.
Baylor's 52 points, 25 boards and 10 assists in December of 1961 proved to be his first of two memorable 50-point TDs. The next one came against the Celtics in 1963 where he dropped another sensational stat line containing 50 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists. His first 50-point triple-double is fifth in the all-time list of highest scoring TDs in the history of the game.
After spending 11 dominant seasons in purple-n-gold, Baylor retired as an 11-time NBA All-Star in 1972.
#2 Russell Westbrook
This list is tailor-made for someone who's been averaging a triple-double for the past three seasons, and Brodie provides just the right amount of madness needed to do so.
Right from his MVP season that started back in 2016, the OKC megastar has not dipped on his triple-double game till date. In all, he has four 50-point TDs to this point - the latest of which is the second-highest scoring ever - as he continues to pick apart every single defence that has been put to test in front of him.
Just this past season, he recorded a 20-20-20 game in honour of Late Rapper Nipsey Hustle, which goes to show that Westbrook's ceiling is ever so high and still soaring.
His 57 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists performance against the Magic in March of 2017 was the highest-scoring triple-double ever until 'The Beard' surmounted it in January of 2018.
#1 James Harden
James Harden is 29-years-old and has five 50-point triple-doubles already, which is the most by any player thus far. Moreover, he also holds the record for the highest-scoring triple-double in the history of the NBA - which he achieved via his 60 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists showing against the Orlando Magic in January last year. His 53/16/17 stat line against the Knicks in December of 2016 stands at fourth on the same list.
From being the 'Sixth-Man of the year' back in 2012 to an MVP and seven-time All-Star currently, Harden has grown exponentially in his quest to be the best ever since his exit from Oklahoma City.
His emphatic scoring average of 36.1 points per game just this past season couldn't bag him his second straight MVP trophy but that doesn't take anything away from the fact that he is truly the most offensively skilled NBA player at this moment.
Guess the Lakers players!
