Derek Fisher: 34 minutes played, 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists

One of the things I love about researching and writing about sports statistics is when you discover some bizarre, out-of-ordinary stat that just doesn’t make sense. Such is the case today.

Think about playing in an NBA game. Is it possible for an NBA player to spend 15, 20, 0r even more than 25 minutes on the floor playing in an NBA game and not have a single point, a rebound or an assist? Can you imagine an NBA box score where a player gets 15 or more minutes and has zeros on his box score… 0 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists? You have to think to yourself, “What was this guy doing on the floor all that time?”

Going back to the 1985-86 NBA season, I researched on Basketball-Reference.com the players who had 0 points, 0 rebounds and 0 assists in a game when they played 25 or more minutes in a contest. The result? Six different players “accomplished” this feat a total of seven times. The most recent time was on March 2, 2014 when Philadelphia’s Hollis Thompson played 25 minutes in a game against Orlando and had 0 points (on 0-for-three shooting) and had no rebounds or assists in the game.

Here’s a look at those seven times when players had 25+ minutes played with 0 points, rebounds and assists.

3/2/2014: Hollis Thompson, Philadelphia… 25 minutes played
1/31/2011: Joel Anthony, Miami… 25 minutes played
1/9/2011: Joel Anthony, Miami… 29 minutes played
11/4/2009: Derek Fisher, L.A. Lakers… 34 minutes played
4/17/2006: Theo Ratliff, Portland… 26 minutes played
11/5/2005: Bruce Bowen, San Antonio… 25 minutes played
11/23/2003: Morris Peterson, Toronto… 25 minutes played

Here’s an interesting note about Fisher’s game in which he played 34 minutes without a point, rebound or assist. The Lakers defeated the Rockets 103-102 in that game and it was a Fisher steal that sealed the win for the Lakers. So even with zeros on his box score line, Fisher was able to make a major contribution to the team’s victory.

To generate a few more numbers about this rare stat, I changed the criteria to o points, rebounds and assists in games where a player played 15 or more minutes. Eleven players had three such games from 1985-86 to 2014-15 led by Shane Battier who played five games with that stat line. Here’s a look at these 11 players.

Games with 0 points, rebounds and assists and 15+ minutes played

5: Shane Battier

4: Greg Buckner, Michale Curry, Ryan Gomes, Joel Anthony

3: Duane Causwell, Calbert Cheaney, Earl Cureton, Kevin Ollie, Quincy Pondexter, Danny Vranes

Follow Jerry on Twitter @StatsonTapp