Here are some sports records that were not meant to be easily broken
Records, it is said, are meant to be broken. But are all of them?
Certainly, some records will change hands, such as Washington’s Russell Westbrook’s passing Oscar Robertson on the NBA’s all-time triple-double list on Monday.
Robertson’s record seemed safe. He recorded his final triple-double near the end of the 1973-74 season and no one came close until Westbrook nearly five decades later.
Magic Johnson mastered the art of collecting at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a game and still finished 43 triple-doubles shy of Robertson’s record. If he couldn’t do it, who could? Jason Kidd ended up 74 behind Robertson.
Westbrook had just eight triple-doubles in his first five seasons and 19 after six seasons. He has recorded 163 in in the past six seasons.
Robertson’s mark last 47 years. Hank Aaron’s career home run record lasted 33 years, though it took 39 years before someone (Aaron) broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record.
What are sports’ most unbreakable records?
Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game
Chamberlain, then with the Philadelphia Warriors, scored 100 points on March 2, 1962. It took a confluence of events, including an uncharacteristic 28-of-32 made free throws from Chamberlain, who was a career 51.1% shooter from the foul line. In a time before the 3-point line, Chamberlain attempted 63 shots and his teammates passed him the ball over and over against belabored New York Knicks team that was in foul trouble and didn’t have the manpower that night to stop Chamberlain.
Even though former NBA Commissioner David Stern once told USA TODAY an NBA player would hit 100 again, since Chamberlain’s historic game, just five players not named Chamberlain have eclipsed 70 points in a game: Kobe Bryant (81), David Thompson (73), David Robinson (70), Elgin Baylor (71) and Devin Booker (70).
In this era of 3-point mania, a gifted scorer like Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal or Booker could find the rare zone where everything is going in and make a run. But it would have to be an incredible display of shooting. Klay Thompson once scored 37 points in a quarter and 60 points in just three quarters.
Scott Skiles’ 30 assists in a game
Breaking Skiles’ record seems doable. Yet, it stands 31 years later. Skiles did it with an Orlando Magic starting lineup filled out by Terry Catledge, Greg Kite, Dennis Scott and Nick Anderson and reserves Jerry Reynolds, Otis Smith, Michael Ansley, Jeff Turner and Sam Vincent. John Stockton delivered 28 assists in 1991, and Westbrook had 24 assists on May 3, including 14 in the first half and 20 through three quarters. With assists, the player is relying on his teammate to make a shot, no matter how perfect the pass is.
Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak
For many players, making contact in 56 consecutive games is challenging enough, let alone getting a hit a day for nearly two months. With 33% of plate appearances ending in a strikeout or walk, combined with defensive shifts helping send leaguewide batting average (currently .234) to its lowest level since 1968, New York Yankees great Joltin’ Joe’s 1941 mark has never been safer. Pete Rose made a run at it in 1978 with a 44-game hitting streak. No player has reached 40 since.
Ted Williams’ .400 batting average
What a year for Major League Baseball in 1941. In addition to DiMaggio’s hitting streak, Boston Ted Williams hit .400 that season. Just two players have hit at least .390 since 1941 – Tony Gwynn’s .394 in 1994, a season cut short due to a strike, and George Brett’s .390 in 1980.
Barry Bonds’ 762 career home runs
Bonds’ nefarious path to breaking Aaron’s venerated record has been well-documented. And it’s clear we may never see anything like Bonds again: An all-time great player turned slugger thanks in part to chemical enhancement. As Albert Pujols – now stuck on 667 home runs – proved in getting released by the Angels, Father Time almost always win.
Jim Hardy's eight-interception game
In 2017, Bills quarterback Nathan Peterman threw five interceptions in the first half of a game against the Chargers. He was pulled before he could even threaten Jim Hardy's stunning 70-year-old standard for picks, which took place in the 1950 season opener.
However, let's cut Hardy some slack here. Hardy was driving to Comiskey Park for the game and was involved in a car accident. He arrived in time for the kickoff, but played without warming up. In the second half, Cardinals coach Curly Lambeau tried to rescue Hardy from the nightmare by inserting Frank Tripucka at quarterback. But Tripucka got hurt and Hardy was back in to add to his infamous place in NFL history.
In the next game, Hardy threw for six touchdowns (and just two interceptions) for quite a down-and-up start to a season. At the time, those six touchdowns tied an NFL record for most in a game with Sammy Baugh and Johnny Lujack.
Ernie Nevers' 40 points in a game
In a Thanksgiving Day game against the rival Bears on Nov. 28, 1929, the Chicago Cardinals' Ernie Nevers set the longest-standing record in NFL history. Nevers scored every point in a 40-6 rout of the rival Bears. Nevers' heaping helping of points included six touchdown runs and four successful extra-point attempts (which, we can only assume, were executed via the drop kick).
It's hard to imagine this mark ever falling ... unless, of course, a running back/kicker or receiver/kicker comes along in the future. A traditional player would have to score seven touchdowns. The most any player has ever scored is six. The most a player has scored in the past decade is five, by the Chiefs' Jamaal Charles in 2013 against the Raiders. The most field goals a kicker has ever made is eight and the most extra points is nine, so combine the two and you're still well short of 40.
Serena Williams’ Open Era Grand Slam record
She has 23 Grand Slam titles, one more than Steffi Graf, but no active player is close in the Open era. She won her first Grand Slam championship in 1999 and dominated for nearly the next two decades. It’s going to take another all-time great to pass Williams, and it won’t happen for a while. Naomi Osaka, 23, has four major championships.
Annika Sorenstam’s 18-hole round of 59
Breaking 60 in 18 holes is a near mythical achievement. Annika Sorenstam is the only LPGA golfer to card a 59. She did it 20 years ago – 13-under in the second round of the Standard Register Ping in Phoenix. She started on the back nine with a birdie – the first of eight consecutive birdies. On her final nine holes, Sorenstam had five birdies. Not one bogey in her round.
Someone may tie her, but break it?
Wayne Gretzky's scoring records
Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin (730 goals) has a chance to pass Gretzky's career mark of 894. But Gretzky's season marks of 92 goals (1981-82) and 215 points (1985-86) appear safe. Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (40 goals in 50 games) and Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (100 points in 53 games) are having spectacular seasons, but their 82-game paces would be 66 goals and 155 points, respectively. Gretzky's career 1,963 assists and 2,857 points also are unlikely to be broken. He averaged 1.9 points per game in his career. McDavid is averaging 1.4.
Martin Brodeur's goalie wins and shutouts
He finished with 691 wins and 125 shutouts. Active leader Marc-Andre Fleury (491 wins, 66 shutouts) is 36. Tampa Bay Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, 26, has only 11 fewer wins and 10 fewer shutouts than Brodeur had at the same age, but Brodeur played until he was 42.
Michael Phelps’ 23 gold medals
Phelps had an incredible run in the pool through four Olympics – six golds in Athens in 2004, eight golds in Beijing in 2008, four golds in London in 2012 and five golds in Rio in 2016. Soviet Union gymnast Larisa Latynina, Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi, U.S. track star Carl Lewis and U.S. swimmer are closest with nine golds. Just based on the number of events, great swimmers have the most chances to win medals in individual and relay events.
Usain Bolt’s 100-meter record
How much faster can a human run? Jamaica’s Usain Bolt holds the world record at 9.58 seconds, set in Berlin in 2009. Americans Bob Hayes and Jim Hines flirted with sub-10-second times and Hines had an electronically recorded 9.95 at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. Since then, sprinters have chipped away at it a fraction of a second at a time until Bolt’s 9.58. Researchers have studied how a human can run faster, but so far no sprinter has been able to apply science on the track and beat Bolt.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Russell Westbrook broke 47-year record; other sports feats hard to top
