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The NBA is back. Two games were played on the 2021 NBA Opening Night. Defending champions Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Brooklyn Nets at home, while the Golden State Warriors outlasted the LA Lakers at the Staples Center.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had a great NBA Opening Night against the Nets. He had 32 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists in the Bucks' 127-104 victory. Meanwhile, Stephen Curry recorded his eighth career triple-double against the Lakers. Curry scored 21 points to go along with ten boards and as many dimes. The Warriors defeated the Lakers 121-114.
While Antetokoumpo and Curry's performances were good, they are not among the best in the history of NBA's Opening Night. Here are the top five NBA Opening Night performances of all time.
#5 Wilt Chamberlain - 1962 NBA Opening Night
Wilt Chamberlain is one of the greatest and dominant players in NBA history. He holds many records that are deemed unbreakable, and still stand to this day. One of those records is the most points scored in an NBA Opening Night.
In 1962, Chamberlain of the then-San Francisco Warriors scored an NBA record 56 points against the Detroit Pistons. The Warriors defeated the Pistons 140-113 on the night.
Chamberlain added 29 rebounds and four assists while shooting 65.7% from the field. He could have had 63 points had he converted all of his free throws in the game. Chamberlain went 10-of-17 from the stripe on that night.
#4 Anthony Davis - 2014 NBA Opening Night
Anthony Davis is one of the most special talents in the history of the NBA. He spent his first seven seasons with the New Orleans Pelicans before getting traded to the LA Lakers in 2019.
While with the Pelicans, Davis had one of the greatest NBA Opening Night performances of all time. In 2014, he recorded a near triple-double with 26 points, 17 rebounds and nine blocks against the Orlando Magic at home. He also had three steals and two assists in his team's 101-84 win.
Davis was one block away from a rare triple-double with blocks. Nevertheless, the future Hall of Famer stamped his superstardom with one of the greatest opening night performances in NBA history.
#3 John Stockton - 1989 NBA Opening Night
John Stockton is the NBA's career leader in assists with 15,806, and second in career assists per game at 10.5. Stockton also holds the record for the most assists on NBA opening night with 19.
In 1989 against the Denver Nuggets at home, Stockton led the Utah Jazz to a 122-113 victory. Besides 19 dimes, the Hall of Fame point guard also scored 23 points. To make things even better on an amazing opening night, Stockton's teammate Karl Malone had 40 points.
Even though Malong exploded in this game, most of his points came from Stockton's assists. Moreover, Stockton's opening night record still stands after 32 years.
#2 Clyde Drexler - 1996 NBA Opening Night
The quadruple-double is one of the rarest accomplishments in the NBA. It has only been recorded four times - Nate Thurmond in 1974, Alvin Robertson in 1986, Hakeem Olajuwon in 1990 and David Robinson in 1994.
On NBA Opening Night in 1996, Clyde Drexler almost recorded the fifth quadruple-double in history. In the Houston Rockets' 96-85 win over the Sacramento Kings, Drexler tallied 25 points, ten rebounds, ten steals and nine assists.
It was even more impressive because Drexler was playing in his final season in the league. A decade earlier, Drexler almost had his first quadruple-double while a member of the Portland Trail Blazers. He had 26 points, 11 assists, ten steals and nine rebounds.
#1 Michael Jordan - 1989 NBA Opening Night
In 1989, Michael Jordan almost broke Wilt Chamberlain's record for most points scored on NBA Opening Night. Jordan exploded for 54 points against his favorite opponents, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Fresh off of eliminating the Cavaliers with "The Shot" in the 1989 NBA playoffs, Jordan continued to torture Cleveland with the greatest Opening Night performance of all time. In addition to his 54 points, Jordan had 14 rebounds and six assists in a 124-119 overtime win on the night.
Jordan would have tied the record had he not missed two of his 17 free throws. His Airness had an amazing 1989-90 season, as he also scored his career-high 69 points against, you guessed it, the Cavaliers.
