Looking at triple-doubles per 100 possessions controls for pace of play and minutes played.
This allows us to get a better idea of players true production. The traditional triple-double can be easily influenced. Oscar Robinson’s 1961-62 season is a great example – high minutes, high pace. We’ll see below that this season doesn’t look as impressive when adjusted per possession. However, he was clearly still a unique talent, dominating the top of this list.
The minimum qualifications are 1000 minutes played, 4 points per game, 4 rebounds per game, and 4 assists per game. While we can’t directly calculate per possession stats prior to 1973-74, we can use estimates already calculated by basketball-reference.com. These are detailed here.
There ended up being zero players to average a triple-double per 100 possessions. Instead, I’ve limited it to a minimum of 7 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists per 100 possessions.
We also only go back through 1950-51, the first season that rebound totals were available.
By Player:
Data Table:
| Player | Team | Season | Age | MP | Pace | WS | per100PTS | per100AST | per100TRB | Combined |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oscar Robertson | Cincinnati Royals | 1963-64 | 25 | 3559 | 115.9 | 20.60 | 28.87 | 10.11 | 9.10 | 48.08 |
| Oscar Robertson | Cincinnati Royals | 1961-62 | 23 | 3503 | 124.9 | 15.60 | 26.69 | 9.88 | 10.83 | 47.41 |
| Wilt Chamberlain | Philadelphia 76ers | 1967-68 | 31 | 3836 | 124.3 | 20.40 | 20.06 | 7.10 | 19.65 | 46.80 |
| Oscar Robertson | Cincinnati Royals | 1964-65 | 26 | 3421 | 115.8 | 17.00 | 27.63 | 10.45 | 8.18 | 46.25 |
| Oscar Robertson | Cincinnati Royals | 1960-61 | 22 | 3032 | 122.8 | 13.20 | 27.92 | 8.88 | 9.24 | 46.04 |
| Tom Boerwinkle | Chicago Bulls | 1970-71 | 25 | 2370 | 109.7 | 9.00 | 16.35 | 7.27 | 20.89 | 44.51 |
| Oscar Robertson | Cincinnati Royals | 1962-63 | 24 | 3521 | 119 | 16.80 | 25.94 | 8.71 | 9.53 | 44.17 |
| Bob Cousy | Boston Celtics | 1953-54 | 25 | 2857 | 93 | 8.10 | 24.97 | 9.37 | 7.15 | 41.49 |
| Bob Cousy | Boston Celtics | 1952-53 | 24 | 2945 | 94.7 | 7.20 | 24.20 | 9.41 | 7.70 | 41.30 |
| Bob Cousy | Boston Celtics | 1951-52 | 23 | 2681 | 100 | 7.70 | 25.64 | 7.92 | 7.56 | 41.12 |
| Richie Guerin | New York Knicks | 1959-60 | 27 | 2429 | 125.9 | 7.40 | 25.32 | 7.32 | 7.90 | 40.54 |
| Bob Cousy | Boston Celtics | 1955-56 | 27 | 2767 | 114.5 | 6.80 | 20.51 | 9.71 | 7.42 | 37.63 |
| Walt Frazier | New York Knicks | 1968-69 | 23 | 2949 | 112.4 | 12.70 | 20.27 | 9.15 | 7.18 | 36.61 |
| Jerry Lucas | New York Knicks | 1972-73 | 32 | 2001 | 105.9 | 7.80 | 15.92 | 7.24 | 11.58 | 34.74 |
| Danny Finn | Philadelphia Warriors | 1952-53 | 24 | 1015 | 94.9 | -0.40 | 18.38 | 7.26 | 8.65 | 34.29 |
| Norm Van Lier | Chicago Bulls | 1972-73 | 25 | 2882 | 104.5 | 7.70 | 17.72 | 9.05 | 7.01 | 33.79 |
| Norm Van Lier | Cincinnati Royals | 1970-71 | 23 | 3324 | 118.5 | 6.00 | 15.99 | 10.09 | 7.09 | 33.18 |
| Tom Gola | Philadelphia Warriors | 1955-56 | 23 | 2346 | 108.5 | 6.50 | 13.85 | 7.57 | 11.67 | 33.08 |
| Walt Frazier | New York Knicks | 1967-68 | 22 | 1588 | 117.2 | 3.50 | 17.18 | 7.82 | 8.02 | 33.02 |
| Dick McGuire | New York Knicks | 1951-52 | 26 | 2018 | 94.9 | 6.60 | 14.76 | 9.79 | 8.34 | 32.88 |
| Andy Phillip | Philadelphia Warriors | 1951-52 | 29 | 2933 | 95.5 | 4.80 | 13.57 | 9.27 | 7.46 | 30.31 |
| Dick McGuire | New York Knicks | 1953-54 | 28 | 2343 | 87.4 | 6.30 | 14.50 | 8.29 | 7.33 | 30.13 |
| Dick McGuire | New York Knicks | 1952-53 | 27 | 1783 | 93.1 | 4.70 | 12.70 | 8.64 | 8.11 | 29.46 |
| Art Williams | San Diego Rockets | 1968-69 | 29 | 1987 | 123.8 | 3.40 | 10.94 | 10.17 | 7.09 | 28.21 |