Larry Bird heads one of NBA’s exclusive stats clubs

By JEERRY TAPP

As the 2022-23 NBA tips-off this week, it’s interesting to note that there are 20 players who have averaged in their careers 20 or more points per game, seven or more rebounds per game, and three or more assists per game. Of these 20 players, eight are currently active in the league.

Here’s the alphabetical list of these 20 players to have career averages of 20+ pts, 7+ rebounds and 3+ assists per game (* indicates a member of the Hall of Fame):

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 24.6/11.2/3.6*

Giannis Antetokounmpo, 21.8/9.4/4.6

Charles Barkley, 22.1/11.7/3.9*

Elgin Baylor, 27.4/13.5/4.3*

Larry Bird, 24.3/10.0/6.3*

Wilt Chamberlain, 30.1/22.9/4.4*

Billy Cunningham, 20.8/10.1/4.0*

Luka Doncic, 26.4/8.5/8.0

Kevin Durant, 27.2/7.1/4.3

Joel Embiid, 26.0/11.4/3.3

LeBron James, 27.1/7.5/7.4

Marques Johnson, 20.1/7.0/3.6

Bob Lanier, 20.1/10.1/3.1*

Karl Malone, 25.0/10.1/3.6*

Bob Pettit, 26.4/16.2/3.0*

Oscar Robertson, 25.7/7.5/9.5*

Karl-Anthony Towns, 23.2/11.3/3.1

Chris Webber, 20.7/9.8/4.2*

Russell Westbrook, 22.8/7.4/8.4

Zion Williamson, 25.7/7.0/3.2

A closer look at these 20 reveals a couple of interesting facts:

•    Eleven of the 20 who are no longer playing are in the Hall of Fame. Eight are currently active in the NBA. The only player on this list who is not playing and not in the Hall of Fame is Marques Johnson.

•    Milwaukee Bucks fans will see that five different players on this list have spent time with the team: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Marques Johnson, Bob Lanier, and Oscar Robertson.

•    Giannis has averaged 21.8 points per game, 9.4 rebounds per game, and 4.6 assists per game. Only one player in NBA history has better numbers than Antetokounmpo in each of these three stat categories: Larry Bird. He averaged 24.3 points per game, 10.0 rebounds per game, and 6.3 assist per game.