A basketball stat line is a clear barometer on how a player affects the game. Good or bad, a player’s stats will reflect that. Once in a blue moon, stat lines reflect basketball anomalies, a reflection of some of the most bizarre things in NBA basketball.
Here are some of the most impressive and bizarre stat lines to ever grace the NBA.
Dominating the Game
The legendary record for points is 100, coming from no other than Hall of Famer Wilt “the Stilt” Chamberlain. This record-setting performance was set on March 2, 1962.
He also managed to grab 25 rebounds and dish out 2 assists. Sadly, blocks were not recorded during that time. He could easily have had a 100-point triple double. This is truly a testament on how he dominated the game.
In contrast, a fellow Hall of Famer who is known to dominate a game without scoring that much goes by the name of Dennis Rodman.
It was 1993, Rodman was a Spur. He owned the glass against the Charlotte Hornets. He was a beast on the boards tallying 0 points, 28 total rebounds, 10 offensive boards, and 3 assists. The whole Hornet team had a total of 41 rebounds for the game. For his career 14 seasons, he has led the league in rebounds in seven of them.
Block Machine
Shaquille O’Neal had an impressive 15 block game with the Magic in the early 90s, but people tend to forget that a 15 block game was a feat already done in the late 80s by shot blocking savant, Manute Bol.
January 25, 1986, Manute Bol and his Washington Bullets were up against a hungry Atlanta Hawk team. They won the game on Bol’s 4 points, 4 rebounds, and 15 block performance. This was his rookie season where he averaged an insane 5 blocks a game.
Bizarre Scoring Stats
Rip Hamilton was a big part of the Pistons championship team in the 2000s. As a scorer, he provided offense for the team’s stingy defense. Hamilton became the only player in NBA history to lead a team in scoring without scoring a single field goal with a stat line of 14 points, 0-10 field goals, and 14 out of 14 free throws. This strange feat was recorded on 2005.
On the other hand, Hakeem Olajuwon holds the record for most points without having a single free throw. He posted numbers of 48 points, 24-40 field goals, and no free throw attempts on a 1997 Rockets game against the Nuggets. Makes you wonder how amazingly talented he was not to be fouled or too intimidating to even be fouled.
Talking about fouls, then-Buck Corey Maggette managed to pump out 17 points on free throws alone despite playing just 10 minutes against the Timberwolves. He finished with 17 points, 0-2 field goals, and 17 out of 20 free throw attempts.
If you think about it, he was technically fouled per minute en route to the charity stripe 10 times.
Since we are talking about scoring, one of the best examples of pure scoring would be Allan Houston. The former Knick sharpshooter validated himself being exclusively a scorer by posting 37 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 steals, and 0 blocks versus the Timberwolves in 2000.
The Oddities
Damian Lillard embraced his inner big man when he forgot to shoot the ball against the Clippers in 2015. He posted 5 points, 18 rebounds, 1-13 from the field, and 0-7 from the three-point line. DeAndre Jordan having a similar line of 6 points and 19 rebounds did not make it any less weird.
You normally want to be the number one when it comes to competitive sports. Getting a ton of them on your stat sheet was not that idea. As a member of the Nets, CJ Watson gave a 1 point, 1, assist, 1 rebound, 1 steal, 1 block, and 1 turnover performance versus his old team the Chicago Bulls.
In normal circumstances you need playing time to get your stats going, even for turnovers, Rasual Butler was a victim of strange unfortunate occurances.
The only time he checked into the game was the final 4.2 seconds of the game. It was 93-92 the Raptors were down a point versus the Lakers. Butler was to inbound for the Raptors. Five seconds in, he could not find anyone and calls a timeout. Unfortunately, the refs tagged him for a 5-second violation.
Technically the clock did not start, so he ends the night with 0 minutes and 1 turnover.
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