In case you missed it amongst the madness occurring on Tru TV, JaVale McGee had a triple double tonight. Yes, his team lost by 19 points, but you can't blame JaVale and his 11 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 blocked shots! And so what if he showboated on a dunk that clinched the feat, in garbage time as his team was about to complete loss number 50? You may assume he was putting himself ahead of the Wiz, but JaVale is a forward thinker. 20 years from now he can say he was in the same company as Hakeem Olajuwon and Dwight Howard and no one will remember the result of an NBA game in March. And who cares if his last dunk was clearly a forced attempt to get into the record books, obviously outside of the game's organic flow? There's no asterisk for that in the record books.
OK, lets say this book of records that everyone keeps referring to had an appendix for shaky attempts at entering the annals, here are some that might make the list.
Anthony Bowie vs Detroit Pistons, March 19th, 1996.
A career reserve for the Orlando Magic, Bowie was desperate to cash in on his one triple double opportunity. Stalled at 20, 9 and 9 with 4 seconds left, Bowie made sure to rebound a Pistons miss and call a time out in a game that was already out of reach. Coach Brian Hill wanted no part of Bowie's shenanigans and walked away from the huddle as Bowie drew up the final play. Pistons coach Doug Collins was even angrier and ordered his players to stand underneath the opposing basket in an apparent protest of this statistical maneuvering. Bowie's 4 second stint as player-coach worked like a charm as he completed a pass to David Vaughn for a dunk and while he tried to apologize to Collins afterwards, Bowie was still excited about his accomplishment. He also got the last laugh as he is currently not the coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Ricky Davis vs Utah Jazz, March 16th, 2003
You may remember Ricky Davis from the Negative Dunkalectics preview of the Wizards/Cavaliers game in February. Rest assured that this was not a one and done appearance, as we just signed him to a 3 year contract to be included in any ND post that features the tag "What Happens When You Hot Dog". A rebound away from a triple double against the Jazz, Ricky shot at the wrong basket and snatched the board to get his place in history. And it was all captured in beautiful technicolor.
Bobby Sura tried the same thing a year later but at that point the NBA had enough and rescinded his last rebound, cementing the legacy of Ricky Davis.
Dana Barros vs New York Knicks, January 12th, 1996
Coming into the night having made a 3 pointer in 89 straight games, Dana Barros would not be denied in continuing "The Streak" amidst a typically subpar M.L. Carr coached Celtics season. Down by 13 with seconds left in the game, the Celtics called a time out as Barros was 0 for his previous attempts. They inbounded to Barros who took several more attempts as the Knicks crowded him, but it was not to be. One of the least memorable streaks in NBA history was over.
There was also that time some quarterback for the Packers took a dive to give Michael Strahan the single season sack record but that's the wrong sport and I can't remember what that guy's name was.
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