Two impressive individual milestones were accomplished Tuesday night in the NBA. And, appropriately, they happened to be achieved by former teammates — and, to our knowledge, still BFFs — Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash. Dirk broke into the NBA’s all-time scoring Top 10, surpassing Oscar Robertson, while Nash passed Mark Jackson for third in total assists. They are impressive milestones, to be sure, but it’s just another reminder of the relatively under-appreciated (if not unknown) nature of individual NBA records.
Everyone knows that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the NBA’s all-time scoring leader. But can you rattle off how many points he scored? Probably not (I’ll save you some time: 38,387). Did you know Karl Malone was second? Possibly (you’d be surprised how many people don’t know this). And he’s comfortably in second place, too, thanks to Michael Jordan retiring twice during his career. Assuming full health, Dirk should pass Hakeem, Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone and Shaq to hit 6th place on the scoring list. It’s unlikely that he passes anyone in the 30,000-Point Club, and Dirk will ultimately have to settle for 7th or 8th all time once LeBron James and Kevin Durant pass him (which is going to happen).
As for breaking Kareem’s scoring record, LeBron and Durant have a long way to go, but their career scoring averages are practically identical, so it’s a matter of health and longevity that will determine if they make it to the top. Oh, hey, speaking of health and longevity, how about that all-time assist record? Nash hobbled his way to 10,335 career dimes, putting him 1,756 behind Jason Kidd…and a scant 5,471 behind John Stockton.
As absurd as Kareem’s scoring record is, at least we can entertain a discussion about someone breaking it one day (and, within the next ten years). Stockton’s assist record? Forget it. I don’t even care about the propensity for statisticians to fudge assist numbers. Nobody is coming close to 15,806, and for a few reasons:
1. John Stockton was basically a machine. Over his 19-year career, Stockton missed 22 of a possible 1,526 games. That’s a rare health streak, especially for a guy on a team that consistently made the playoffs, and had deep playoff runs late in his career. For comparison, Chris Paul ranks third all time in assists per game, averaging 9.9. Stockton averaged 10.5. That alone is a significant margin. But, CP3 has also missed large chunks of seasons: 18 games in 2007-07, 37 in 2009-10. Missing another 12 games last season didn’t help either. Remember, the key to breaking records (other than, you know, being good at basketball) is staying healthy and playing for a long-ass time.
2. Karl Malone. As in, the guy who is second on the all-time scoring list. It helps to have that type of prolific scorer on your team, especially a big man who could roll of a screen and nail an 18-foot jumper. Stockton had Malone for all 19 seasons. And, if there’s one guy who rivaled Stockton’s health and longevity, it was Malone, who missed eight games across his entire career (excluding his last season, when he went ring chasing with the Lakers).
3. Stockton didn’t score much. While his arch-nemesis, Gary Payton, was a scoring point guard, Stockton was more of a classic floor general, eschewing scoring for facilitating. He twice averaged 17.2 points per game — his career high. He finished his career at 13.1 points per game. Although, those two seasons he averaged 17.2 were also his two highest assist years. Go figure.
For fun, let’s see what Chris Paul would have to do to break Stockton’s record. CP3 has logged nine, injury-riddled seasons. We know his assists per game average is 9.9, and currently sits at 6,084 total assists. That puts him 9,722 behind Stockton. Let’s give him ten years, just to equal Stockton’s 19 years. Paul would need to average a hair more than 11.8 assists per season, while not missing a single game, just to equal Stockton’s record.
This is the part where we remind you that Chris Paul has never averaged 11.8 assists in one season. So, um…yeah.
[ESPN]
