The NBA Playoffs triple-double is a rare and elusive accomplishment. Even more remarkable is the ability to record a playoff triple-double on several occasions. Only 10 players in the history of the NBA have recorded more than five playoff triple-doubles in their career.
It is a testament to the singularity of the playoff triple-double that Magic Johnson, who last recorded a playoff triple-double 37 years ago in the 1987 NBA Playoffs, remains the all-time leader in the statistic with 30 total playoff triple-doubles.
Right behind Johnson on the list is LeBron James, with 28 career playoff triple-doubles. The rest of the top 10 includes Nikola Jokic (18 playoff triple-doubles), Russell Westbrook (12), Jason Kidd (11), Draymond Green (10), Rajon Rondo (10), Larry Bird (10), Wilt Chamberlain (9) and Oscar Robertson (8).
LeBron James still has a chance to usurp Johnson as the NBA's playoff triple-double leader, but that crown will inevitably land on Jokic's head in due time. No player in the history of the game records playoff triple-doubles at the rate of Jokic. In looking at playoff triple-double percentage (below), which is simply total playoff triple-doubles divided by total playoff games played, Jokic leads all players historically at a 24.32 rate.
Player | Playoff triple double % (total Playoff games played) |
|---|---|
Nikola Jokic | 24.32 (74) |
Magic Johnson | 15.79 (190) |
Luka Doncic | 11.77 (34) |
Russell Westbrook | 9.84 (122) |
LeBron James | 9.76 (287) |
Oscar Robertson | 9.30 (86) |
Ben Simmons | 8.82 (34) |
Rajon Rondo | 7.46 (134) |
Jason Kidd | 6.96 (158) |
Draymond Green | 6.37 (157) |
Larry Bird | 6.10 (164) |
Wilt Chamberlain | 5.63 (160) |
Luka Doncic, third place on the list with a playoff triple double percentage of 11.77, also has a surefire opportunity to challenge Johnson's record in the coming years.
Nikola Jokic is an historical anomaly
Jokic is by far the most likely future king of playoff triple-doubles, however. The Serbian center, widely expected to be awarded his third NBA MVP in four years this summer, recorded 10 triple-doubles in last year's playoffs alone.
Such a feat is even more impressive when one considers the fact that no player besides Jokic in the 2023 playoffs recorded more than one triple-double, and there were only 14 total triple-doubles recorded overall.
Jokic's 10 triple-doubles in last year's playoffs also represents an historical anomaly.
If one were to remove Jokic from the equation completely and compare playoff triple-doubles recorded in 2023 to playoff triple-doubles recorded in 1990, the frequency of the playoff triple-double would appear to be constant over time. There were 4 non-Jokic playoff triple-doubles logged in the 2023 playoffs (Bam Adebayo, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry and Jamal Murray with one each), and there were three playoff triple-doubles logged in the 1990 playoffs (Larry Bird, Hakeem Olajuwon and Scottie Pippen with one each).
Case in point: playoff triple-doubles are extremely difficult to come by in the NBA regardless of the era, but Nikola Jokic has become a glaring exception to this rule.