Ahead of 78th NBA Season, Look at the Top Numbers for Major Stats for Opening Day

The 2023-24 season will be the 78th edition in the NBA history. Preceding 77 seasons has brought immense joy to basketball lovers across generations. The opening day of the season holds a lot of value as millions of fans wait for five-odd months. Therefore, the anticipation is sky-high. On the opening day, the current champ, the Denver Nuggets, and LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers are going to start the season. Apart from that, perennial contenders the Golden State Warriors and Kevin Durant-infused Phoenix Suns will take on each other.

As these four behemoths square off, here is a look at some of the statistical highs during the first day of the Regular Season. Let us see who leads the way in points, rebounds assists, steals, and blocks for season openers.

The opening day leaders in the NBA

Of course, when it comes to points, Wilt Chamberlain pops up in the mind. The only player to score 100 in a game and is the only athlete to average over 50 points in a season! Yes, over 50 points during just a season! Therefore, it is barely a surprise that he is the leader during opening days.

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For the Warriors, he scored 56 points during the opening day win of the 1962-63 season against the Pistons. He shot 25/37 and also pulled down a humongous 29 rebounds, playing all the minutes in the game. Mind-bogglingly, Chamberlain didn’t miss a single Regular Season second during the preceding 1961-62 season, averaging 48.5 minutes a game!

In terms of rebounds, we got to the ultimate Chamberlain denier! Celtics’ Bill Russell holds the opening-day rebounds record. He nabbed 36 rebounds during the opening day, that too twice in his career!

What about the highest number of assists in an opening-day fixture? Unsurprisingly, Jazz’s John Stockton leads the pack with 19 assists. He completed the feat during a 122-113 win against the Denver Nuggets during the opener of the 1989-90 season. This is a Floor General who led the league in assists a record nine times and is the number in assists made all-time. 

Let us now dive into some defensive numbers. Who has the most steals and blocks on opening day?

Active hands!

The record for most blocks belongs to one of the best defensive players ever. Nate Thurmond leads the pack with 12 blocks on the first day.

This came during his Bulls opening day 120-115 OT win to start the 1974-75 season. This was the same game where he became the first player to post a quadruple-double. He had 22 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists. In terms of steals, athletic phenom Clyde Drexler is on top with 10 steals during the opening-day fixture. 

It is clear that the superstar-level players come ready for the battle from the tip-off. Will any of the above records be shattered this season?

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