Triple Double Remains On NBA Endangered List

DETROIT - It has been on the NBA's endangered list since November 1991, when Earvin "Magic" Johnson announced his retirement. The outlook got a little brighter last August - when Johnson and Larry Bird helped the Dream Team win an Olympic gold medal - but Bird retired and Johnson re-retired.

And now nobody knows what will become of the triple double, the league's most honored individual feat.

For those of you who don't know the NBA from the BBC, a triple double is attained by getting double figures in three categories - usually scoring, rebounding and assists, though combinations that include steals and/or blocked shots are also recognized.

"A triple double is tough to get," said Charles Barkley, the Phoenix Suns' All-Star forward. "Really tough. It's like hitting for the cycle in baseball."

Baseball purists probably would disagree, but the degree of difficulty is definitely closer to the cycle today than it was when Johnson and Bird were routinely posting triple doubles in the 1980s.

Johnson had 137 in his 12-year career, including 18 in 1981-82. Bird wasn't as proficient as Johnson - 59 in 13 seasons - but he had 10 in 1985-86. And then there's Dallas shooting guard Fat Lever, who had 16 of his 42 triple doubles in 1986-87 with the Denver.

For 10 seasons, the league's triple-double champion had a minimum of 10.

Last season, all you needed was two to tie for the lead - and only Chicago's Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, San Antonio's David Robinson and Seattle's Gary Payton had more than one. League-wide, there were 25 - 52 fewer than in 1988-89.

Things are a little better this season. Through last Sunday, there were 27 - four by Jordan and Indiana forward Detlef Schrempf, and three by Pippen. Only two other players had two - Minnesota point guard Micheal Williams and New Jersey Nets point guard Kenny Anderson.

Still, shouldn't somebody be picking up the pace?

"There doesn't seem to be anybody out there," said Harvey Pollack, longtime Philadelphia 76ers statistician who coined the phrase "triple double" midway through Johnson's rookie season. "There's no Magic or Bird. Most guys can rebound and score. Or score and get assists. But that's it."

A Detroit Piston hasn't had a triple double in seven seasons, since point guard Isiah Thomas had 14 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds against the Bulls on Feb. 1, 1987. Forward Mark Aguirre is the only other Piston to get a triple double, but both came when he played with the Mavericks.

"For a 6-1 guy or a 6-3 guy to get a triple double, the big men aren't doing their jobs on the boards," Thomas said, laughing. "Or maybe there aren't any big men on the floor. If there are big men on the floor, the rebounds have to be long ones."

It's definitely a big-man's statistic, with only one little man - Phoenix's 6-foot-1 point guard Kevin Johnson - cracking the career top 10. He has nine.

Pippen had two in the Bulls' first four games this season, then didn't get another until Jan. 12. Of course, he made the mistake of talking about the impossible, of someday averaging a triple double for the season - something Oscar Roberston did for the Cincinnati Royals in 1961-62 (30.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, 11.4 assists).

"I know it hasn't been done in a long time," Pippen said, "but I believe it can be done."

But not by Pippen, as long as Jordan remains healthy and productive and protective of the ball. There are those who believe Jordan could approach Robertson's amazing feat were he not so interested in winning scoring championships. He came the closest to doing it in 1988-89, averaging 32.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 8.1 assists.

"It was an aberration," Pollack said of Robertson's season-long triple double. "The strange thing is, very little was made of it at the time because that was the same season Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50.4 points a game."

Eddie Johnson, veteran Seattle guard, has one triple double in 12 seasons - "I still have the stat sheet," he said proudly - but he considers himself an authority on the subject.

"One, you've really got to get good minutes," he said. "The three top guys (Magic, Bird and Lever) were getting upwards of 40 minutes a game. Also, the ball was always in their hands. The assists are the toughest part, but they'll come if you get the ball a lot."

Johnson likes Schrempf, who this seaon became the first European to be selected to an NBA All-Star team. Schrempf had 34 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists at Milwaukee last weekend. With any kind of luck - he was a rebound or an assist shy of a triple double in five other games - Schrempf would be the clear-cut leader this season.

"He seems to be the guy," Johnson said. "Not taking anything away from Indiana, but if he was on a great team he'd be doing it a lot. The superstars should be able to do it, but sometimes role players have just as good a chance."

That does seem to hold true. Consider that Darrell Walker, Bulls guard and former Piston, the NBA player most likely to shatter a backboard with a shot, has 15 triple doubles - 10 more than Thomas and five more than Barkley.

"I'm telling you," Barkley said. "It's tough to do."