Fathers and sons have been a distinguished a part of latest NBA historical past. The 2024-25 season started with LeBron James and Bronny James changing into the first father-son duo in league historical past to play in the identical recreation, and second-generation gamers have gotten much more frequent within the NBA as a complete. There are 29 of them in complete within the league proper now, and one in every of them simply joined his father to make a little bit of historical past.
Scotty Pippen Jr., the far much less heralded son of Corridor of Famer Scottie Pippen, racked up 11 factors, 11 assists and 10 rebounds for the Memphis Grizzlies in a 128-104 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday. That gave him the primary triple-double of his younger NBA profession. His father, a six-time champion with the Chicago Bulls, earned 17 triple-doubles in his Corridor of Fame profession. Some useful analysis from Reddit revealed that this makes them the primary father-son pair in NBA historical past to every report triple-doubles.
So, how did it take so lengthy for an NBA household to do that? Properly, keep in mind, a lot of the most well-known basketball households are largely constructed round a single star. Kobe Bryant had 21 triple-doubles within the NBA, for instance, however his father, Joe “Jellybean” Bryant by no means had one. It is a comparable story for Stephen Curry, who has 10, and his father Dell, who has none. In a single ironic case, it’s the much less well-known member of the family with the triple-doubles. Mychal Thompson has two triple-doubles, for example, however Klay Thompson has but to report one.
The apparent set you’d assume would have notched triple-doubles of their profession can be Domantas and Aryvdas Sabonis. Domantas is an All-Star with the Sacrarmento Kings and Arvydas is a Corridor of Famer, and each are identified for his or her passing acumen regardless of taking part in heart. The issue was that the elder Sabonis did not get to the NBA till he was 31 and had handled quite a few accidents. The elder Sabonis by no means even reached 10 assists in a recreation, however he additionally performed half-hour per recreation in solely one in every of his seven NBA seasons.
Put all of that collectively and a door was open for the Pippens, however it’s nonetheless fairly stunning that they had been the household to lastly get there. The youthful Pippen went undrafted in 2022 and, after a season as a two-way participant for the Los Angeles Lakers did not result in a full-time NBA contract, his long-term profession prospects weren’t particularly shiny. However he caught on with the injury-riddled Grizzlies a 12 months in the past and took benefit of all the taking part in time they may provide. He has since emerged as a viable choice on each ends of the ground, defending very effectively for his dimension whereas rising right into a strong backup level guard on offense.
Whereas the Pippens could maintain this title for now, it possible will not be lengthy earlier than different NBA households be part of them. One of many prime prospects for the 2026 NBA Draft is Cameron Boozer, son of former All-Star Carlos Boozer, who had a single triple-double in his profession. At some point, the Boozers will possible be part of the Pippens, and on the price second-generation gamers are reaching the NBA these days, extra are nearly definitely going to comply with.
