The NBA Dribbled Out

12ax7 asked: Westbrook put up 23-13-8-7 against the Jazz. Pretty damn close to a quadruple-double. I always thought the only guys in the league who could possibly do that were Durant and Lebron because both are effective offensively and defensively. Who do you think has potential at pulling off the elusive quadruple-double right now?

First off, this is such a great question, and thanks for asking it. 

Secondly, quadruple-doubles are very rare as you mentioned, and only four players have pulled one off in an NBA game since the they started tracking steals and blocks beginning in the 1973-74 season, but you can be sure Russell, Wilt and Oscar had a bunch of them during their careers. 

Regardless, four guys have pulled it off since that ‘73-‘74 season, and only one of them used steals to get the elusive quad-double. 

Alvin Robertson of the Spurs recorded one on February 18, 1986, when he had 20 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists and 10 steals. The other three were Nate Thurmond (10/18/74: 22, 14, 13, and 12 blocks in OT); Hakeem Olajuwon (just 26 days after the NBA decided he hadn’t accomplished one, recorded another beauty on 3/29/90: 18, 16, 10 and 11 blocks); and David Robinson (2/17/94: 34, 10, 10, 10). Based off that sliver of a sample size, I’d guess the best chances are with a big man and the blocks, since only 10 players have recorded 10 steals in a game since 1985-86, and one of them was Robertson. 

So, lets cut the guards out of the equation since the chances of them accumulating 10 steals is too unlikely a probability. That leaves the aforementioned Durant and LeBron, and if I had to guess it would be LeBron since he leads the champion Heat in points, rebounds, assists and steals per game (Bosh has the blocks, though). But lets look at less likely players, and maybe some big men that have gotten over 10 blocks recently. 

There are a few interesting candidates, including two, Larry Sanders & Roy Hibbert that have surpassed 10 blocks already this season (both happened in November). But the master of the 10 block game should be very obvious: Serge Ibaka. During February alone last season, Ibaka had three games with over 10 blocks. That’s pretty impressive, and a good sign he’s capable of achieving a quadruple-double some time in his career. So he’s my guess for right now; although, Durant and LeBron both have the talent on both ends of the floor to also achieve the feat.

But the best quadruple story I can remember, involves Larry Bird. In 1984, during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Bird recorded 30 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 9 steals in just three quarters of action. Larry—always being Larry—refused to re-enter the game in the fourth quarter because it was a blowout. 

That’s reason 4,562 I love Larry Bird.