History was made in Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night.
Franchise history, to be specific.
Not only was the Knicks’ single-season triple-double record set by Josh Hart, but the Knicks had a pair of teammates record triple-doubles for the first time in franchise history and just the 20th time in NBA history, as Karl-Anthony Towns recorded his first as a Knick.
On that note, let’s go back and talk all things trip-dubs in Knicks history ahead of the Knicks’ clash with the Clippers on Wednesday night.
The First Triple-Double
As a flagship NBA franchise, the Knicks got their first triple-double pretty early.
Over a year after the first recorded one occurred by Andy Phillip of the 1950-51 Philadelphia Warriors, Dick McGuire scored 14 points, dished 13 assists, and grabbed 12 rebounds on April 5, 1952 against the Syracuse Nationals.
However, this only goes down as the first postseason triple-double, as it occurred in Game 3 of the 1952 Eastern Division Finals.
The first regular season triple-double would take another four years, when rookie and future All-Star Kenny Sears had a 20-14-11 line on January 4, 1956, against the Celtics. It would be his only career triple-double.
Richie Guerin
Before Clyde Frazier, there was Richie Guerin.
The star guard of the franchise’s infancy remains in third place in franchise history in triple-doubles with 16. He recorded his first against the Cincinnati Royals in December 1957 and his last on February 25, 1962.
Guerin had six of them against the Philly Warriors and is the only Knick to pull it off on both legs of a back-to-back in December 1960. His mark of six in the 1961-62 season set the initial franchise record.
He had a few impressive lines (including a 21-17-15 one in 1960), but none better than his 50-13-11 masterpiece in his sixteenth and final triple-double at Convention Hall against the Philadelphia Warriors. Wilt Chamberlain dropped 67 that night and then dropped 100 on the Knicks a week later. Yikes.
Walt “Clyde” Frazier
Before Clyde was swishin’ and dishin’, Walt Bellamy recorded a pair in the mid-60s before the coolest cat to ever wear the orange and blue posted his first on January 28, 1968 against the now-San Francisco Warriors.
Clyde would average six assists and six rebounds a game throughout his entire Knicks career, resulting in a franchise-record 23 in his ten seasons.
While he wasn’t an all-star in his sophomore campaign, he recorded eight triple-doubles in 80 games in 1968-69, adding a ninth in Game 3 of the Eastern Division Finals against the Celtics.
Clyde had one career 15-15-15 game in February 1968 and had two career 30-pointers. He holds the franchise record with four postseason triple-doubles. In fact, his final one in Game 1 of the 1972 NBA Finals remains the final one in Knicks history.
As far as all-time marks, Clyde is 23rd in NBA history in the regular season and tied for 13th in the postseason.
His final one as a Knick came in November 1976 against the Kansas City Royals. In his ten years in New York, only Jerry Lucas (5, including a league-leading 4 in 72-73) and Dave DeBusschere (1) also recorded ones.
Micheal Ray Richardson
In the ensuing decade, Ray Williams had three and Bernard King had one. However, one man had 18 by himself.
Despite spending just four years as a Knick, MRR sits second in franchise history in triple-doubles.
Behind Clyde’s 8 and Josh Hart’s 9, Richardson’s two seasons of seven triple-doubles populate the top-four.
None of his triple-doubles saw him score 30, but he put up some gaudy assist totals along the way. Five of his 18 had 15+ assists and two had 18+.
His craziest statline was probably his 27-19-15 game in March 1981 against the Cavs. He also had four triple-doubles with seven steals, marking the closest a Knick has ever come to the supremely rare quadruple double.
The Patrick Ewing Era
Fun fact: Pat had one triple-double.
On April 19, 1996, Patrick Ewing had 28 points, 15 rebounds, and 11 assists against the Charlotte Hornets.
It was the only one he got, but he came close a few times, including a 31-10-8 game in the 1990 First Round series against the Celtics. The two games I just listed are the only double-digit assist games of Ewing’s career.
Only eight triple-doubles were recorded while Ewing was a Knick, including six by Mark Jackson.
Jackson had six, including two of 25+ points. As a fun note, he recorded a seventh in 2002 after he returned to the Knicks.
The Abyss
Before the new millennium, the Knicks were sixth in the NBA with 78 all-time triple-doubles.
From 2000 to 2020, they were 28th.
With eight.
Here is every triple-double recorded by a Knick through the first two decades of the 2000s:
Mark Jackson (2/20/2002 @ CHI): 15 points, 13 assists, 10 rebounds
Latrell Sprewell (2/28/2003 vs ORL): 28 points, 11 assists, 11 rebounds
David Lee (4/2/2010 @ GSW): 37 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists
Raymond Felton (1/7/2011 @ PHX): 23 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds
Carmelo Anthony (4/17/2012 vs BOS): 35 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists
Jarrett Jack (1/10/2018 vs CHI): 16 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists
Mario Hezonja (4/5/2019 @ HOU): 16 points, 16 rebounds, 10 assists
Elfrid Payton (2/3/2020 @ CLE): 17 points, 15 assists, 11 rebounds
In 20 years.
Eight.
The Revival
No Knick had recorded multiple triple-doubles in one season since Mark Jackson in 1988-89 until Julius Randle’s 26-12-12 in March 2021 got him his second of his breakout campaign.
He became the first to record three since Micheal Ray Richardson in 1981-82 just five days later.
After twenty years of an abyss, Julius Randle exploded for six in 2020-21, ultimately ending his Knicks career with eight.
But wait, there’s more.
Kemba Walker miraculously posted the first of his career on Christmas 2021.
Immanuel Quickley had two in the span of eight days at the end of the 2021-22 season.
And then, Josh Hart.
Hart has skyrocketed into fourth in Knicks history with 15 in just three seasons. His nine through 70 games in 2024-25 is a franchise record.
Karl-Anthony Towns joined the party on Tuesday, becoming the 24th player in franchise history to get a triple-double.
Bonus: Teammate Triple Doubles
As we all know, Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns are the first pair of teammates to each get one in the same game.
What’s the closest we’ve come to getting one in the past? Willis Reed came two rebounds shy on February 15, 1969 from matching Clyde against the Warriors (again).
It’s been done 20 times in NBA history, first in 1958 with Tom Heinsohn and Bob Cousy with the Celtics.
It only happened eight times prior to 2018, with notable pairings including Jordan and Pippen in 1989, Magic and Kareem in 1982, and Kidd/Vinsanity in 2007.
When Lonzo Ball and LeBron James did it in 2018, it opened a Pandora’s Box.
A number have players have been included multiple times, including two different pairings.
Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler did it in 2019 and 2021.
Russell Westbrook and Nikola Jokic have done it twice this season alone.
Russ, specifically, has done it with Jokic, LeBron, and Paul George.
One last note: the funniest pairing has to be OAKAAK Dennis Smith Jr and Mason Plumlee for the 2020-21 Pistons.
How...
Dennis Smith Jr. & Mason Plumlee both finished with a triple-double in a win vs the Raptors Wednesday.
They are the 2nd pair of teammates in Pistons history to each record a triple-double in the same game joining Donnie Butcher & Ray Scott, who did it in 1964. pic.twitter.com/Is8Xqr1mgX
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 4, 2021