Triple-doubles at NBA Summer League: Lonzo Ball, Josh Giddey headline list of players to accomplish rare feat

Scott Rafferty

Triple-doubles at NBA Summer League: Lonzo Ball, Josh Giddey headline list of players to accomplish rare feat image

Every year, the NBA's best young prospects get an opportunity to showcase their potential in Summer League games.

You probably won't be surprised to hear that there have been some big-time performances over the years, from Anthony Morrow exploding for a record-breaking 47 points to Malcolm Thomas grabbing 22 rebounds and Marcus Williams dishing out 17 assists.

But triple-doubles? It may feel like someone gets one almost every night in the NBA these days, but they're still incredibly rare in Summer League games. It doesn't help that Summer League games are shorter — they feature 10-minute quarters as opposed to NBA's usual 12-minute quarters.

From Nick Johnson in 2014 to Josh Giddey in 2022, here's the full list of players to record a triple-double in an NBA Summer League game.

MORE: Five must-see matchups at 2023 NBA Summer League in Las Vegas

Triple-doubles at NBA Summer League

A total of four players have recorded a triple-double in a Summer League game.

Lonzo Ball and Bruce Brown are the only players to post a triple-double at the Las Vegas Summer League. Giddey had one in the Salt Lake City Summer League, and Johnson finished with one in the Orlando Pro Summer League. Accomplished in 2014, Johnson's was the first triple-double in Summer League history.

According to RealGM, the California Classic is the only Summer League without a triple-double performance.

History of triple-doubles at Summer League
Player Year (Summer League) Points Rebounds Assists Highlights
Nick Johnson (HOU) 2014 (Orlando) 15 10 10
Lonzo Ball (LAL) 2017 (Las Vegas) 11 11 11 Twitter
Lonzo Ball (LAL) 2017 (Las Vegas) 16 10 12 YouTube
Bruce Brown (DET) 2019 (Las Vegas) 11 14 10 YouTube
Josh Giddey (OKC) 2022 (Salt Lake City) 14 10 10 YouTube

Ball has the highest-scoring triple-double with 16 points. He's also the only player with multiple triple-doubles at Summer League. With averages of 16.3 points, 9.3 assists, 7.7 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game, Ball was named MVP of the 2017 Las Vegas Summer League.

Click here for the full list of Summer League MVPs and here for Summer League records.

Scott Rafferty

Scott Rafferty Photo

 

Scott Rafferty is an experienced NBA journalist who first started writing for The Sporting News in 2017. There are few things he appreciates more than a Nikola Jokic no-look pass, Klay Thompson heat check or Giannis Antetokounmpo eurostep. He's a member of the NBA Global team.