Sports Reference Blog

Career and Single-Season Triple Double Leaders

Posted by Neil on July 11, 2013

Just in case you missed this last month year, we now offer the option to search for double- and triple-doubles using the Player Game Finder tool. Under "Additional Criteria", just check the box next to "Double-Double" or "Triple-Double", and you'll be able to find games that match any combination of points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks that meet the criteria you're looking for.

As an example, here are the career leaders in Triple-Doubles since 1985-86 (the first year we have complete boxscore data):

Rk Player Pos From To Count
1 Jason Kidd G 1995 2011 118
2 Magic Johnson* G 1986 1996 79
3 LeBron James F 2005 2013 47
4 Fat Lever G 1986 1990 44
5 Larry Bird* F 1986 1992 37
6 Grant Hill F 1995 1999 29
7 Rajon Rondo G 2009 2013 28
8 Michael Jordan* G 1988 1997 27
9 Charles Barkley* F 1986 1998 24
10 Clyde Drexler* G 1986 1997 24
11 Chris Webber F 1994 2005 23
12 Scottie Pippen* F 1989 1999 21
13 Kobe Bryant G 2001 2013 19
14 Kevin Garnett F 1998 2007 19
15 Mark Jackson G 1988 2002 19
16 Gary Payton* G 1991 2004 17
17 Hakeem Olajuwon* C 1986 1997 15
18 David Robinson* C 1990 1994 15
19 Antoine Walker F 1997 2004 15
20 Darrell Walker G 1989 1991 15
Rk Player Pos From To Count
21 Kevin Johnson G 1988 1997 13
22 Chris Paul G 2006 2011 13
23 Alvin Robertson G 1986 1991 13
24 Baron Davis G 2001 2010 12
25 Lamar Odom F 2000 2008 12
26 Mookie Blaylock G 1994 2001 10
27 Dikembe Mutombo C 1993 2002 10
28 Paul Pierce F 2003 2013 10
29 Andre Iguodala G 2005 2013 9
30 Andre Miller G 2000 2009 9
31 Vlade Divac C 1994 2004 8
32 Steve Francis G 2000 2006 8
33 Pau Gasol F 2006 2013 8
34 Tim Duncan F 2000 2011 7
35 Anthony Mason F 1997 2000 7
36 Terry Porter G 1987 1989 7
37 Detlef Schrempf F 1987 1993 7
38 Russell Westbrook G 2009 2013 7
39 Shawn Bradley C 1996 1998 6
40 Boris Diaw F 2006 2011 6
Rk Player Pos From To Count
41 Michael Finley G 1998 2001 6
42 Anfernee Hardaway G 1994 2003 6
43 Rodney McCray F 1987 1992 6
44 Paul Pressey G 1986 1988 6
45 Damon Stoudamire G 1996 2005 6
46 Rod Strickland G 1993 1999 6
47 Kenny Anderson G 1993 1994 5
48 Vince Carter G 2000 2009 5
49 Vern Fleming G 1987 1989 5
50 Larry Johnson F 1993 1996 5
51 Chris Mullin* F 1989 1997 5
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/11/2013.

Here are the single-season leaders as well:

Rk Player Pos Season Count
1 Magic Johnson* G 1988-89 17
2 Magic Johnson* G 1990-91 17
3 Michael Jordan* G 1988-89 16
4 Fat Lever G 1986-87 16
5 Magic Johnson* G 1986-87 14
6 Jason Kidd G 2006-07 14
7 Larry Bird* F 1985-86 13
8 Grant Hill F 1996-97 13
9 Magic Johnson* G 1987-88 13
10 Jason Kidd G 2007-08 13
11 Jason Kidd G 2001-02 12
12 Fat Lever G 1987-88 12
13 Larry Bird* F 1989-90 11
14 Magic Johnson* G 1989-90 11
15 Grant Hill F 1995-96 10
16 Jason Kidd G 2003-04 10
17 Fat Lever G 1988-89 10
18 Rajon Rondo G 2011-12 10
19 Jason Kidd G 1995-96 9
20 Jason Kidd G 2005-06 9
Rk Player Pos Season Count
21 Jason Kidd G 2004-05 9
22 Darrell Walker G 1989-90 9
23 Charles Barkley* F 1992-93 8
24 LeBron James F 2007-08 8
25 LeBron James F 2008-09 8
26 LeBron James F 2012-13 7
27 LeBron James F 2005-06 7
28 Jason Kidd G 2000-01 7
29 Jason Kidd G 1998-99 7
30 Larry Bird* F 1986-87 6
31 Kevin Garnett F 2002-03 6
32 LeBron James F 2009-10 6
33 Magic Johnson* G 1985-86 6
34 Jason Kidd G 1999-00 6
35 Chris Paul G 2008-09 6
36 Charles Barkley* F 1986-87 5
37 Kobe Bryant G 2002-03 5
38 Kobe Bryant G 2004-05 5
39 Clyde Drexler* G 1990-91 5
40 LeBron James F 2010-11 5
Rk Player Pos Season Count
41 Michael Jordan* G 1992-93 5
42 Jason Kidd G 2002-03 5
43 Fat Lever G 1989-90 5
44 Hakeem Olajuwon* C 1989-90 5
45 Scottie Pippen* F 1992-93 5
46 David Robinson* C 1993-94 5
47 Rajon Rondo G 2008-09 5
48 Rajon Rondo G 2012-13 5
49 Antoine Walker F 2000-01 5
50 Chris Webber F 1999-00 5
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/11/2013.

Now you won't have to rely on old posts like this for info on double- and triple-doubles -- you can run custom queries for yourself using the Game Finder.

Related posts:

  1. 1943-1998 College Basketball Stats, 8000+ Team Seasons
  2. Best NBA Scoring Duos in One Game (Mailbag)
  3. Yearly Schedule-Adjusted Offensive and Defensive Ratings
  4. B-R: HoF Candidate – Juan Gonzalez
  5. B-R: HoF Candidate – Jeff Bagwell

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 11th, 2013 at 9:12 am and is filed under Announcement, Basketball-Reference.com, Features, History, Play Index. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

13 Responses to “Career and Single-Season Triple Double Leaders”

  1. Mike Says: July 11th, 2013 at 9:53 am

    How about a list of 5x5 games? (points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals)

  2. Neil Says: July 11th, 2013 at 10:22 am

    Unfortunately, we can't find those right now, but only because there are 4 (and not 5) categories available to search under the criteria section. If we had 5, it'd be easy -- just search for games w/ pts/reb/ast/blk/stl >= 5.

  3. Don Says: July 11th, 2013 at 12:00 pm

    Magic Johnson had "only" 12 triple-doubles in 1987-88.

    Jan. 12, 1988 Lakers-Warriors box score on this site has mixed up defensive and total rebounds.

    http://oi43.tinypic.com/3584buv.jpg

  4. Neil Says: July 11th, 2013 at 12:05 pm

    Thanks, we'll take a look.

  5. pm Says: July 11th, 2013 at 2:52 pm

    #1, you can find a list of 5x5 with the play index. Just look for games with 5+ assists, rebounds, blocks, and steals then choose to sort by points. Its happened 15 times since 1986

    http://bkref.com/tiny/bl4Gc

  6. Mike Says: July 11th, 2013 at 2:55 pm

    Well done, sir.

  7. Cody Powell Says: July 12th, 2013 at 2:49 pm

    What about Oscar Robertson? How can he not be on this list when he AVERAGED a triple double for an entire season? What about Wilt who led the league in assists one year? C'mon. This list is weak, incomplete without ALL NBA players, not just recent players.

  8. Neil Paine Says: July 12th, 2013 at 2:53 pm

    @7 - As I said in the post, this is all since 1985-86 (the first year we have complete boxscore data). Perhaps we will be able to add earlier seasons at some point, but nobody has NBA boxscores digitized for years prior to 1986 right now. Unfortunate, but that's the reality of the situation.

  9. Dickie Dunn Says: July 13th, 2013 at 7:19 am

    If one were to believe Wikipedia, Wilt and Oscar have more career triple-doubles. Still, it's nice to have a modern (since 85) log of who pulled it off.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_(basketball)#Facts_2

  10. PP Says: July 14th, 2013 at 8:18 am

    Oscar actually averaged a triple double over his first 5 seasons. Can't find it now, but I think someone tallied them up and came to 180+. Found it = 181.

  11. PP Says: July 14th, 2013 at 8:18 am

    http://nba.si.com/2013/06/08/lebron-james-triple-double-game-one-2013-nba-finals-miami-heat-san-antonio-spurs/

  12. Milt Says: July 15th, 2013 at 8:36 am

    Not to put too fine a point on it, but are the Oscar/Wilt triple-double numbers made up?

    I'm talking about Oscar's career total of 181 and single-season high of 41.

    These numbers are quoted on lots of different websites - including Wikipedia, nba.com, etc. - but there's never any mention of a source.

    Oscar obviously racked up a whole bunch of triple-doubles, but it's not clear to me where the actual figures come from.

  13. PP Says: July 19th, 2013 at 7:12 am

    O's stats exist somewhere, otherwise there's no accurate numbers at all pre 1965 or so. BBR's clips of his first few games in 61-62, when he averaged 30.8, 12.5, 11.4, are not complete, but if the averages are correct, and I assume they are, then 41 triple doubles are quite possible.