The Detroit Pistons have had some great players over the years, but few have been the kind of stat stuffers that record triple-doubles regularly.
Hopefully, that will change with Cade Cunningham, who has the kind of game that could land him at top of the franchise’s all-time triple-doubles list.
That really won’t be that hard, as the franchise has only recorded 64 of them total, which ranks 17th all-time in NBA history. Of the 64, Grant Hill has 29 of them, so one player accounts for nearly half the total.
Considering that all-time leader Russell Westbrook has logged 198 triple-doubles by himself and that the Lakers (who lead all teams) have 308 total, you can see just how few and far between they have come in Detroit.
In fact, the list is so short that it fits neatly in one paragraph, though there are some surprising names.
Every player to record a triple-double for the Detroit Pistons
Here is the list, along with how many triple-doubles they recorded as members of the Detroit Pistons:
- Grant Hill (29)
- Isiah Thomas (5)
- Bob Lanier (4)
- Blake Griffin (3)
- Dave Bing (3)
- Dave DeBusschere (3)
- Cade Cunningham (2)
- Mason Plumlee (2)
- Reggie Jackson (2)
- Ben Wallace (2)
- Dennis Smith Jr. (1)
- Greg Monroe (1)
- Chauncey Billips (1)
- Jerry Stackhouse (1)
- Edgar Jones (1)
- Donnie Butcher (1)
- Ray Scott (1)
- Dick McGuire (1)
- Gene Shue (1)
Only 19 players have ever recorded a triple-double for the Pistons and only three players in franchise history have done it more than three times.
The most surprising names on the list have to be Mason Plumlee, Ben Wallace and Dennis Smith Jr., as the latter only played 20 games for the Pistons and the other two are centers, who don’t normally get triple-doubles unless their names are Nikola Jokic.
It’s also surprising that Chauncey Billips, who was a good rebounder for a guard, only had one triple-double during his career in Detroit, fewer than Cade Cunningham, who has only played 76 games for the Pistons.
The Detroit Pistons aren’t the worst team in NBA history when it comes to triple-doubles, but they certainly don’t have an illustrious history of them, something Cade Cunningham (and maybe Ausar Thompson) hope to change.