Mikal Bridges
Mikal Bridges is on track to soon move into fourth all-time for consecutive games played to begin a career.
Unless he already has.
A paragon of durability, Bridges has played all 545 of the Suns', Nets' and Knicks' games while he has been on their rosters.
The undisputed top three in this stat:
- Red Kerr 844
- Jack Twyman 609
- Terry Tyler 574
The uncertainty lies at No. 4.
Bobby Wanzer either played the first 548 games of his BAA/NBA career – or some nondescript smaller number.
The NBA doesn't know. Recent attempts to ascertain have not yielded an answer.
A future Hall of Famer, Wanzer began his BAA career with the Rochester Royals in 1948. A precursor to the NBA, the BAA is included in NBA stats. Wanzer played all 60 of Rochester's games that season.
Issues arise with his second season, 1949-50 (the first season under the NBA moniker).
In the NBA's official records, Wanzer's career page shows him playing 67 of Rochester's 68 games. However, Wanzer's game log shows him playing all 68 games.
Basketball-Reference has the same, incongruous, info.
This isn't simply a case of Wanzer mistakenly being marked active for a stat-less night when he really didn't play at all. He's credited with scoring points in each game.
Adding to the confusion, the team page shows Wanzer scoring 791 points that season. However, his game log totals 790 regular-season points. So, even if an extra game and at least three points were misattributed to him in the game log, how did he wind up with one point fewer?
The era's record-keeping obviously leaves much to be desired.
Maybe the full-season stats are from the Royals and accurate. The game log could be from the league office and contain someone else's stats misattributed to Wanzer when called in after a game.
Or the game log could be accurate and someone miscounted when tabulating the full-season numbers.
There's no good way of telling even which game is in dispute.
Wanzer played every game the next six seasons, at least possibly bringing his games-played streak to 548. He missed the first game of his ninth season and final season.
The simple solution for Bridges: Play against the Clippers tonight, Bucks on Friday, Trail Blazers on Sunday, 76ers on Tuesday and surpass even the highest-possible interpretation of Wanzer's mark.
Consecutive-games record
If he keeps it up, Mikal Bridges could leave Bobby Wanzer in the dust (again, if Bridges hasn't already).
Bridges could also pass Terry Tyler in November and Jack Twyman in February for No. 3 then No. 2 all-time in consecutive games played to begin a career.
Toppling Red Kerr would take far longer – until 2029, based on the NBA's current structure.
But Bridges has a chance.
A.C. Green
What about the all-time consecutive-games-played record, to begin a career or otherwise? That belongs to A.C. Green, who – after Lakers coach Pat Riley gave him a few DNP-CDs in 1986 – played 1,192 straight games.
That's more than double Mikal Bridges' already-darned-impressive streak!
Variables abound so far out, but barring schedule changes, Bridges would get there in 2033.
Stephen Curry
Stephen Curry recently went viral for making a shot from the far tunnel.
Apparently, he actually missed. A new angle shows the ball splashing the net from the front, not after going through the rim.
Bummer.
James Dolan
The funniest part of the James Dolan article by Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic that Nate and Danny discussed on the pod: The Knicks' claim the league was investigating them hiring Rick Brunson as assistant coach apparently stemmed from the NBA's annual request for coaches' contracts for the league's records. The Knicks' statement at the time: "We see this as more harassment of the Knicks."
Kel'el Ware
One of the wildest plays I've seen in the NBA: Kel'el Ware attempted a layup, got blocked by Kevon Looney, collected the offensive rebound and made a backward flip shot – all before touching the floor!
Tyler Herro was initially given an assist – obviously nonsensical for a putback, but indicative of just how strange this sequence was. Occasionally, there can be confusion on whether a player was shooting – i.e., whether he was blocked or just had the ball deflected. But on those plays, the putback never follows quickly enough for someone to believe an assist is still warranted.
Tyrese Haliburton
Tyrese Haliburton posted his 11th consecutive double-double with assists – the longest such streak in eight years.
Russell Westbrook also had 11 straight double-doubles with assists in 2019.
Next up for Haliburton? John Wall's streak of 13 such games in 2017.
Haliburton is also within range of the post-John Stockton record, Chris Paul's 14 straight games in 2013.
The Pacers face the Lakers tonight, Wizards tomorrow and Thunder on Saturday.
Still a long way from John Stockton's all-time record of 37, though.
Karl-Anthony Towns/Josh Hart
With Karl-Anthony Towns (26 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists) and Josh Hart (16 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists) both posting triple-doubles in the Knicks' win over the Mavericks last night, the 2024-25 season has now featured a record three pairs of teammates with triple-doubles in the same game.
The feat was also accomplished earlier this season by Nikola Jokic & Russell Westbrook and Nikola Jokic & Russell Westbrook.
Teammates with triple-doubles in the same game:
- 2024-25 NYK: Karl-Anthony Towns & Josh Hart
- 2024-25 DEN: Nikola Jokic & Russell Westbrook
- 2024-25 DEN: Nikola Jokic & Russell Westbrook
- 2021-22 LAL: LeBron James & Russell Westbrook
- 2020-21 DET: Mason Plumlee & Dennis Smith Jr.
- 2020-21 MIA: Bam Adebayo & Jimmy Butler
- 2019-20 MEM: Ja Morant & Jonas Valanciunas
- 2019-20 MIA: Bam Adebayo & Jimmy Butler
- 2018-19 OKC: Paul George & Russell Westbrook
- 2018-19 LAL: Lonzo Ball & LeBron James
- 2006-07 NJN: Vince Carter & Jason Kidd
- 1988-89 CHI: Michael Jordan & Scottie Pippen
- 1986-87 BOS: Larry Bird & Robert Parish
- 1981-82 LAL: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Magic Johnson
- 1968-69 SEA: Art Harris & Lenny Wilkens
- 1963-64 DET: Donnie Butcher & Ray Scott
- 1961-62 CIN: Bucky Bockhorn & Oscar Robertson
Nikki Spoelstra
Erik Spoelstra's ex-wife, Nikki Spoelstra, denied having a relationship with Jaime Jaquez Jr. If you were unaware of the rumors she was addressing, sincerely, good for you.
-Dan Feldman