We know the old saying ‘records are there to be broken’ but sometimes you see an achievement that makes you think ‘surely not’. Here we look at five NBA records that will never be beaten.
Before we delve into the detail of the records we’ve picked out, it’s worth pointing out that not all records are necessarily ones you want your name assigned to.
Number 5. The lowest scoring game of all time
We all love basketball because of its high scoring, end to end style nature that sees basket after basket being sunk. It hasn’t always been that way though.
Spare a thought for the fans of the Fort Wayne Pistons and the Minneapolis Lakers who attended their match in November 1950. It ended 19-18, which is a total of just 37 points.
Some fans will point to the fact the game was different back then and, to a certain extent, it was. Don’t believe that’s the reason for the ridiculously low score though because the second lowest scoring game of all time consists of 83 points.
Not great but somewhat more respectable that the measly 37 the Pistons and Lakers served up all those years ago.
Number 4. The best average minutes per game
It might not be a stat that people turn to all that often but the minutes per game statistic is one that shows what sort of influence a player has on their team.
With that in mind, it might come as little surprise that the record for the season average belongs to the genius that was Wilt Chamberlain. The year was 1962 whilst Chamberlain was with the Philadelphia Warriors.
He missed just eight minutes of action across the entire season giving him a total of 48.5 minutes per game including OT. For reference, the highest average last year belonged to Damian Lillard at 37.5 mpg.
Number 3. The shortest career
We’ve just spoken about the man with the best minutes per game ratio so a quick change to the player who had the shortest NBA career feels appropriate.
The name is Jameson Curry but, if you blinked, you may well have missed him. He was selected as the 51st overall pick in the 2007 draft. It wasn’t until 2010 that he made his debut and the 3.9 seconds he spent on the court for the LA Clippers that evening against the Boston Celtics was his entire NBA career.
Number 2. Landing multiple quadruple-doubles
Before we get to Hakeem Olajuwon, it’s worth noting that there are only four NBA players with quadruple double. They are Olajuwon, Nate Thurmond, Alvin Robertson and David Robinson. The most recent was over 25 years ago, which shows it’s a feat that is rarely achieved. For Olajuwon he managed it twice – and with less than a month between the feats. That will never be surpassed.
Number 1. The best winning streak
When all the records are said and done there is only one thing that matters. Winning games. That’s what the Lakers do now and it’s what they did back during the 1972/72 season too. In fact, they did it better than anyone else back near on 50 years ago when the recorded the longest winning streak of all time.
They recorded 33 straight wins – five more than anyone else has managed – before the Milwaukee Bucks brought that winning streak to an end. All good things come to an end. Not all of them will be broken though.
There you have it, five NBA records that will never be broken. What did we miss? Let us know in the comments below.