Damian Lillard and the Trail Blazers have been the talk of the NBA lately. Scoring 30-plus points in eight out of nine games, defying the odds by putting your team in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race and handing out free sneakers in New York City will do that. But Lillard's recent hot stretch should come as no surprise to Trail Blazers fans; the two-time All-Star has been producing at a consistantly elite level since he entered the NBA in 2012 -- and his numbers back that up.
After logging his 300th career game at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday (in yet another 30-point effort), Lillard etched his name into a class of players that transcent the superlatives 'elite', 'all-star' or 'superstar'. He joined iconic hall-of-famers Oscar Robertson and Nate 'Tiny' Archibald, as well as future hall-of-famers LeBron James and Dwyane Wade as the only players to average at least 21 points and 6 assists in their first 300 professional games.
- Oscar Robertson - 30.2 points, 10.3 assists (1960-1964)
- Nate Archibald - 24.5 points, 8.4 assists (1970-1975)
- LeBron James - 26.7 points, 6.4 assists (2003-2007)
- Dwyane Wade - 24.0 points, 6.4 assists (2003-2008)
- Damian Lillard - 21.2 points, 6.2 assists (2012-2016)
If you want to qualify that stat a little bit more, throw in 3-pointers made and Dame stands alone with 764 triples. While it's not a clean comparison for the full group (the three-point line didn't exist during Robertson and Archibald's first 300 games), it took James the better part of six seasons to eclipse 700 made 3-pointers. Wade, who doesn't attempt a lot of threes, currently sits at 386 during his 13-year career.
Hat-tip to Elias for finding this stat, and ESPN for posting it.