In the coming days, Russell Westbrook will record a couple more triple-doubles and smash Oscar Robertson’s long-standing league record for the statistical achievement. What Westbrook is poised to accomplish is significant, poorly understood and truly impressive. What’s more: even if he retired without another triple-double, he’s already in a class by himself when it comes to multi-category production.
Historically, the triple-double is used as a measure of versatility and all-around production — and it’s a good one. The top of the NBA’s all-time list in career 3x2s are Hall of Famers and members of The Pantheon. Here’s the top 10:
- Oscar Robertson — 181
- Russell Westbrook — 180
- Magic Johnson — 138
- Jason Kidd — 107
- Lebron James — 99
- Wilt Chamberlain — 78
- Larry Bird — 59
- James Harden — 58
- Nikola Jokic — 56
- Fat Lever — 43
From that list, Lever is the only retired player not in the Hall of Fame.