As the Jazz come to town, a unique player comes with them. Although there are many players out there to gather more triple doubles (Jason Kidd, LeBron James), Andrei Kirilenko is the active leader in five-by-fives.
What is a five-by-five, you may ask? If a player gathers at least five of each major statistical category (points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals) in one game, he gets a five-by-five. Kirilenko joined Hakeem Olajuwon as the only player to get multiple five-by-fives with his second one on Dec. 10, 2003—exactly one week after his first. He has since gathered another, putting him three behind Hakeem’s absurd six career five-by-fives. The only other active players with a five-by-five are Denver’s Marcus Camby and Indiana’s Jamaal Tinsley.
There are four players with quadruple-doubles all-time, none of which are still playing. Nate Thurmond, Alvin Robertson, David Robinson and (who else?) Hakeem are the only ones to achieve this feat of feats. Also, not so surprisingly, no player has ever recorded a quintuple double. However, what is surprising is that no player has ever recorded a career quintuple double, which would be getting double digits in all the main five statistical categories in an individual game over their entire career.
This brings us back to Kirilenko. He has achieved the single-game double digits in points, rebounds, assists and blocks. He came ever-so-close to entering exclusive company when he had eight steals during his first five-by-five game. So, if you see AK-47 come up with 10 steals one night, you can smile to yourself knowing that you have seen something never before done in the NBA.
For the record, the only Maverick to record double-digit steals in one game was Michael Finley, who swiped 10 balls on Jan. 23, 2001. He was the last NBA player to achieve that feat. His career high in blocks is 4.
-Scooter Hendon, Hoops Nerd
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