If assists were awarded as generously in the 80s as they are today...

[72-10]

...how many triple-doubles would the following players have?

1. Oscar Robertson
2. Wilt Chamberlain
3. Jerry West
4. Magic Johnson
5. Larry Bird
6. Jeff Ruland

you might want to factor in that rebounds were much more plentiful in the 60s, so that might cancel out the 60s players' differences in assists

Here's my take: Robertson and West would have about the same number of triple-doubles, due to the fact that rebounds were much more plentiful then and they had trouble getting 10 rebounds. Wilt, however, would have a lot more triple-doubles, like 100 total, since assists are what he did not clear. Magic and Bird would both have another 50 triple-doubles possibly, and Jeff Ruland would have about 20-something for his short but brilliant career.

[jlip]

Assist averages were the highest in NBA history during the 80's.

[Loco 50]

Utah notoriously inflated Stockton's assists for years and that started back in the 80's so......not just a problem in today's NBA.

[Manny98]

Assist averages were the highest in NBA history during the 80's.
Shut....it....down

[72-10]

Assist averages were the highest in NBA history during the 80's.

That is because it was faster paced. Yet it was harder to get credit for an assist. The scorer did not award an assist for anything more than two steps after receiving the pass. They didn't do that in the 80s. This is well known.

[AirBonner]

Assist averages were the highest in NBA history during the 80's.
Thread ended here :lol :lol

[Psileas]

Agreed, Wilt would likely have 100+ TD's off assists alone, since he's had plenty of 8 or 9 assist games that would likely be in double digits today. But, if blocked shots counted as well, the total number would be much higher, he'd rank #1 by far, with probably a good 250-300 or so.

[SpaceJam2]

Utah notoriously inflated Stockton's assists for years and that started back in the 80's so......not just a problem in today's NBA.

Shut...it...down..

[SpaceJam2]

Assist averages were the highest in NBA history during the 80's.

Boom

[egokiller]

It

[SpaceJam2]

[QUOTE=egokiller]It

[1987_Lakers]

Agreed, Wilt would likely have 100+ TD's off assists alone, since he's had plenty of 8 or 9 assist games that would likely be in double digits today. But, if blocked shots counted as well, the total number would be much higher, he'd rank #1 by far, with probably a good 250-300 or so.

Wilt was not a natural passer like a Walton or Sabonis, he was a robotic passer compared to those two. It's well known he was a stat padder, who cares if he would of had 100+ TD's off assists alone.

Lets not forget that the 60's played at a faster pace than any other era, the '67 Sixers for example averaged 100 FGA a game, compared to 85-90 FGA a game for the Showtime Lakers and KD-Curry Warriors.

[And1AllDay]

Found the first guy that didn't bother reading the thread :applause:

Congrats, moron :lol

:oldlol: :roll:

[72-10]

Agreed, Wilt would likely have 100+ TD's off assists alone, since he's had plenty of 8 or 9 assist games that would likely be in double digits today. But, if blocked shots counted as well, the total number would be much higher, he'd rank #1 by far, with probably a good 250-300 or so.

Wow, you're right, I didn't even consider blocked shots. He might be close to the triple-double leader if they kept all the stats they do now. Good call.

[Psileas]

Wilt was not a natural passer like a Walton or Sabonis, he was a robotic passer compared to those two. It's well known he was a stat padder, who cares if he would of had 100+ TD's off assists alone.

Lets not forget that the 60's played at a faster pace than any other era, the '67 Sixers for example averaged 100 FGA a game, compared to 85-90 FGA a game for the Showtime Lakers and KD-Curry Warriors.

Of course he wasn't Walton or Sabonis. He was a much more natural scorer than both of them, so passing wasn't the first thing he would care to develop. Despite this, he was very capable of performing great passes, even in seasons he wasn't averaging many assists. Hell, he was probably the first C who would do things like grabbing a rebound and immediately giving an outlet pass without his feet having touched ground and you think he was "robotic"?
Stat-padding or not, it's irrelevant. The term "triple double" didn't even exist back then, so, stat-padding or not, he would get to a humongus number of TD's without him even noticing. He'd get lots of them even in his Bill Russell-like final years.
Neither does pace matter. We all know that superstars' numbers do not suffer due to pace. The only stat that was inflated compared to now was rebounding, and Wilt was an elite rebounder anyway, regardless of inflation.

[TheCorporation]

Assist averages were the highest in NBA history during the 80's.


AND

JUST

LIKE

THAT :roll:

[72-10]

AND

JUST

LIKE

THAT :roll:

Simpleton. Do you know how to read? It was fast paced, that's the only reason assists numbers were still high. That has nothing to do with the fact that it was harder to get credit for the assist in the 80s and prior eras, and harder to get credit for the assist in the 90s than it is now. If those players played now, they would have more assists. There's no question.

[G0ATbe]

Assist averages were the highest in NBA history during the 80's.
:lol :facepalm

[warriorfan]

In 1970 Clyde Frazier had over 10 assists mysteriously added to his box score during game 7 of the Finals.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.postingandtoasting.com/platform/amp/2016/6/19/11972130/walt-clyde-frazier-and-the-greatest-game-7-performance-in-nba-finals


In the books he has 19 assists. If you watch the game there is no way he could have over 9, and that