5 NBA records that will never be broken
When we talk about NBA records, there is one name that will always come up. Wilt Chamberlain owns most of the individual records in league history, and some of those look impossible to match. On that note, we will look at five NBA records that will never be broken.
5 NBA records that will never be broken
To be able to add players beyond Chamberlain, we will not repeat names in this list.
Records are made to be broken. That is one of the most repeated quotes in all sports. Of course, we thought we would never see any other player average a triple-double for an entire season since Oscar Robertson in the 1961-62 NBA season. However, Russell Westbrook did it for three consecutive years.
Records will always fall in sports. But some look too far-fetched to imagine any other NBA player breaking it.
Without further ado, let us begin.
#5 5.6 Blocks per game in a single season - Mark Eaton
In today's NBA, we have some ferocious shot-blockers and great rim protectors. However, the 1980s saw one of the best shot-blockers in NBA history. In the 1984-85 NBA season, Mark Eaton blocked 5.6 shots per game, breaking Elmore Smith's record from 1974.
Eaton was a 7'4'' center out of UCLA who entered the NBA in 1982. In his rookie year (at 26 years of age), Eaton averaged 3.4 blocks per game with the Utah Jazz.
Of course, when talking about blocks in NBA history, we have to establish that Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell do not qualify because the stat was not tracked until the 1973-74 NBA season, at which point both were already retired.
Returning to Eaton, he played his entire 11-year NBA career with the Utah Jazz. He averaged a record 3.5 blocks per game in his career.
To give some perspective to Eaton's record, the last time a player averaged at least four blocks per game was back in the 1995-96 NBA season (Dikembe Mutombo).
Also Read: All about Bill Russell’s Rings
#4 88 games played in a single season - Walt Bellamy
Hall of Fame center Walt Bellamy played in the NBA from 1961 to 1975. He did not win a championship, but he owns one of the most unbreakable records in league history.
Bellamy played a record 88 regular-season games in the 1968-69 NBA season.
In that campaign, Bellamy started the year playing for the New York Knicks. In New York, he played 35 games and averaged 15 points and 11 rebounds per game.
On December 19th, 1968, Bellamy was traded to the Detroit Pistons for Dave DeBusschere. At that point, the Pistons had played 29 games in the regular season.
Bellamy played the remainder of the calendar (53 games) and reached an incredible record of 88 regular-season games played in one year.
Today, it could happen, as teams normally have different calendars. However, load management has been usual in recent years and it is not common to see a player making 82 appearances.