Who has the most triple-doubles in NBA Finals history?

The wait may feel like forever, certainly for Celtics and Mavericks fans, but the NBA Finals will finally get underway on Thursday night, June 6th. Luka Doncic is appearing in his first Finals, but the young superstar has been putting up gaudy stat lines and triple-doubles at every level he’s played at. 

Nuggets fans saw Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray reach their first Finals last season, and both players had statistical success on the highest level as Murray recorded a triple-double while the Joker had two of his own. At this point, it would almost be surprising if Doncic did not put up a triple-double at some point during these Finals.

The Celtics have a great defense, but Luka getting his stats feels almost inevitable even his overall efficiency or scoring numbers could see a dip. But is this really a fair expectation? Do we view NBA Finals triple-doubles through a skewed lens after the successes of Murray and Jokic on that front?

Most triple-doubles in Finals history

Unsurprisingly, LeBron James holds the record for the most triple-doubles in the NBA Finals with 11. Magic Johnson has 8, Draymond Green has 3, and nobody else has done it more than twice. 23 players have recorded a triple-double in the Finals before; 7 have done it twice and 13 players have a single career Finals triple-double.

Impressively for the Nuggets duo, they’ve accomplished their triple-double while playing in just five total NBA Finals games. Jokic having two triple-doubles in 5 Finals games is just nuts. The only other player to ever record a Finals triple-double while making just one Finals appearance is Charles Barkley, who had one in his six career Finals games.

The top 3 on the list have all played in at least 33 NBA Finals games and LeBron and Magic are both over 50. So while players are constantly putting up big stats, a Finals triple-double is still a rare and impressive achievement. Luka could certainly do it, but it’s no given and it would put him in elite company. Meanwhile, if Jokic and the Nuggets can get back to the Finals in the next few years, he has a great chance to climb this list and get into the top 3.