Fathers and sons have been an enormous a part of current NBA historical past. The 2024-25 season started with LeBron James and Bronny James changing into the primary father-son duo in league historical past to play in the identical sport, and second-generation gamers have gotten rather more frequent within the NBA as an entire. There are 29 of them in complete within the league proper now, and considered one of them simply joined his father in making slightly historical past.
Scotty Pippen Jr., the a lot lesser-known son of Corridor of Famer Scottie Pippen, had 11 factors, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for the Memphis Grizzlies in a 128-104 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday. That gave him the primary triple-double of his younger NBA profession. His father, a six-time champion with the Chicago Bulls, had 17 triple-doubles in his Corridor of Fame profession. Some useful analysis revealed that this makes them the primary father-son pairing within the NBA play-by-play period, which started in 1996-97, with every recording a triple-double.
The primary father-son triple-double duo in NBA historical past was Dolph and Danny Schayes. The elder Dolph Schayes, a member of the Corridor of Fame, recorded three profession triple-doubles (1951, 1957 and 1960), whereas his son Danny Schayes accomplished the stat sheet on December 22, 1982, whereas taking part in for the Utah Jazz .
So why have there solely been two father-son NBA duos to put up triple-doubles? Effectively, bear in mind, many of the most well-known basketball households are largely constructed round a single star. Kobe Bryant had 21 triple-doubles within the NBA, for instance, however his father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant, by no means had one. It's the same story for Stephen Curry, who has 10, and his father Dell, who has none. Mockingly, he’s the least well-known member of the triple-double household. Mychal Thompson has two triple-doubles, for instance, however Klay Thompson has but to report one.
The plain set you'd assume would report profession triple-doubles can be Domantas and Aryvdas Sabonis. Domantas is an All-Star with the Sacramento Kings and Arvydas is a Corridor of Famer, and each are recognized for his or her passing acumen regardless of taking part in heart. The issue was that the elder Sabonis didn't make it to the NBA till he was 31 years previous and handled quite a few accidents. The elder Sabonis didn't even attain 10 assists in a sport, however he additionally performed 30 minutes per sport in simply considered one of his seven NBA seasons.
It's nonetheless fairly stunning that the Pippens had been solely the second household to lastly make it there. The younger Pippen went undrafted in 2022, and after one season as a two-way participant for the Los Angeles Lakers didn't result in a full-time NBA contract, his long-term profession prospects weren't significantly shiny. However he caught the injury-riddled Grizzlies a yr in the past and took benefit of all of the taking part in time they may present. Since then, he's emerged as a viable possibility on each ends of the ground, defending very nicely for his measurement whereas changing into a strong backup level guard on offense.
Though the Pippens have joined this unique membership, it in all probability gained't be lengthy earlier than different NBA households be a part of them. One of many high prospects for the 2026 NBA draft is Cameron Boozer, the son of former All-Star Carlos Boozer, who had only one profession triple-double. Sooner or later, the Boozers will seemingly be a part of the Pippens, and on the charge second-generation gamers are making it to the NBA nowadays, extra will virtually actually observe.
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