Statistical rarity of the rarest that we will see throughout a lifetime. Dwight Howard last night became the first player in eight years to go 30-30 and the second to do so since the 1981-82 season, 36 years ago.
Howard added 32 points and 30 rebounds – the last rebound was captured in the final moments of the game – in the clash between Brooklyn and Charlotte on Wednesday and which ended with a score of 111 to 105 in favor of the Hornets. Steve Clifford's team was forced to overcome a 23-point difference to win and Howard had a lot to do with it. He center He took advantage of his physical advantage in the paint to impose his law and capture a number of rebounds worthy of another era.
Striking is Howard's motivating element to play such a complete game: a text message. “I didn't have the energy and effort required to contribute to the team, but I received a text message at halftime that motivated me and gave me extra energy,” explained Howard, who converted 10 of his 17 field goal attempts and 12 of 21 in free practice.
Love, the previous one to achieve a 30-30
On November 12, 2010, Kevin Love played one of the best games of his career. The power forward, then playing for Minnesota Timberwolves, had 31 points and 31 rebounds in a game that his team played at Madison Square Garden in New York. At that time, 28 years had passed without anyone in the NBA having achieved a 30-30.
“Congratulations to Dwight Howard, the new Mister 30-30. “A brutal night,” Kevin Love wrote on Twitter to congratulate the Hornets center.
Before Love, the last 30-30 that had been recorded in the NBA corresponded to the legendary Moses Malone, author of 38 points and 32 rebounds in a game played in 1982. Elijah Sports Bureau goes further in statistical diving and claims that Howard is the first player at least 30 years old to get a 30-30 since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it in 1978. The last player older than Howard to get a 30-30 It was, of course, the statistical monster who always appears, Wilt Chamberlain. Chamberlain made his last 30-30 at 35 years old.
According to Elijah Sports Bureau, only eleven players have gone 30-30 throughout NBA history. Wilt Chamberlain, Walt Bellamy, Robert Parish, Elvin Hayes, Jerry Lucas, Nate Thurmond, Swen Nater, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Moses Malone, Kevin Love and Dwight Howard. It should be noted that Chamberlain achieved it in 124 games and among the rest of the players they have 32 games.
Malone, Kareem, Chamberlain, Hayes... not bad company for Love and Howard.