New Orleans Pelicans all-time leaders in triple doubles

Whether or not we care to admit it, part of what makes basketball fun is seeing all the jaw-dropping statistics players manage to put up over the course of a game/their career. And nothing says a player dominated a game like seeing them post a triple-double (it is part of what makes someone like Russell Westbrook so mesmerizing to watch).

With that in mind, given that this is a page dedicated to the coverage of the New Orleans Pelicans, who are the Pelicans (and Hornets) all-time leaders in triple-doubles?

What is a triple-double?

But before we do that, we need to set the ground rules for what the league counts as a triple-double. Here is the exact definition given to us by NBA.com (the official website of the NBA):

"“When a player reaches double figures (10 or more) in two of the five main statistical categories – points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks – they have achieved a double-double. The most common double-doubles combinations are points and rebounds for big men and points and assists for guards. Reaching double figures in steals or blocks is extremely rare. When a player reaches double figures in three of the five categories, they have achieved a triple-double. Nearly all triple-doubles consists of points, rebounds and assists.”"

The Top 10 List 

With those ground rules set, here is the list of the top-10 leaders in triple-doubles in Pelicans (and Hornets) history:

New Orleans Pelicans All-Time Leaders in Triple-Doubles (number of triple-doubles)*

1. Chris Paul (11)

2. Elfrid Payton (6)

3. Lonzo Ball (4)

4. DeMarcus Cousins (3)

5. Brandon Ingram (2)

6. Rajon Rondo (2)

7. Tyreke Evans (2)

8. Jrue Holiday (2)

9. Jamal Mashburn (2)

10. Steven Adams (1)

*Data Provided by Stat Muse 

A couple of things to note here. First, Chris Paul (aka The Point God) finishing first all-time in franchise history in this category should come as a surprise to no one. He’s probably the greatest player in the history of the organization. And on top of that, he’s played the most games (425 games) with the team of any prominent player outside of Anthony Davis (who has played 466 games).

What should come as a surprise to you (at least it did for me) is Elfrid Payton coming in second place. It’s surprising for two reasons. For one, many people view him as a bust (he’s a former lottery pick who only lasted eight years in the league). And two, he only played 42 games with the Pelicans. That means he was averaging a triple-double with the Pelicans once every seven games. For reference, during his time with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Westbrook had a triple-double every six games he played

The last thing to say here is that, along with Steven Adams, there were eight players in Pelicans’ history that had one triple-double. The reason we put Adams in the tenth spot is because he did it in the least amount of games (58).