9 NBA Facts That Are Absolutely True Despite Sounding Like A Work Of Fiction

It’s been around 80 years since the NBA was formed, and the league has a history that’s overflowing with some wild statistics and borderline unbelievable facts. That includes these tidbits that sound like they’re fake, but every single one of them is based in reality.

These facts about the NBA might sound made up, but all of them are 100% real

If you’re looking to flex your basketball knowledge by pulling out some crazy NBA facts, it’s hard to go wrong with any of these.

The Mavericks had three players who were born on the same day on their roster at the same time

The picture above was taken during a game between the Mavericks and the Lakers during the 2015-16 season and features J.J. Barea on the far left, Raymond Felton second from right, and Deron Williams on the far right.

In that moment, Dallas was playing three guys who were all born on the same day, as the members of that trio share the same birthday: June 26, 1984.

Every NBA player named “T.J” has played for the Pacers

There are four players with the first name “T.J.” who have appeared in an NBA game: T.J. Ford, T.J. Leaf, T.J. McConnell, and T.J. Warren, all of whom played for the Pacers at some point.

If that wasn’t crazy enough, Leaf, McConnell, and Warren all played for Indiana at the same time between 2019 and 2021.

Wilt Chamberlain averaged over 48 minutes per game during the 1961-62 season

James Naismith called for two 15-minute halves when he jotted down the original 13 rules of basketball in 1891, but two 20-minute periods had become the norm in college basketball when the NBA was formed in the 1940s.

The league opted for four 12-minute quarters, and that format has remained the same since its inception. It’s rare to see players on the floor for a full 48 minutes these days, but during the 1961-62 season, the legendary Wilt Chamberlain not only did that in all but one of the 80 contests he appeared in but ultimately averaged 48.5 minutes per game.

How? Chamberlain “only” played 40 minutes when his Warriors faced off against the Lakers midway through the campaign, but he played a full 48 in every contest that ended in regulation while never heading to the bench in five games that went to overtime, two that ended in double overtime, and a third that needed three extra periods to be decided.

Wilt Chamberlain never fouled out of a game

I could probably do an entire list devoted to absurd stats involving Wilt Chamberlain, but I’m going to try to limit it to a couple.

The four-time MVP appeared in 1,045 regular season games over the course of a career that spanned 14 seasons, and when you consider he was tasked with patrolling the paint, it’s not a stretch to assume he was no stranger to foul trouble.

However, he only averaged two per game and was never sent to the bench for hitting the six-foul threshold. He did end up with five fouls on 30 occasions, but he was known for essentially giving up on playing defense if he ever ended up on the verge in order to ensure he’d be able to continue to contribute on the offensive end of the court.

Draymond Green recorded a triple-double while scoring less than ten points

Draymond Green’s career is defined by his defensive prowess, but he has averaged 8.7 points per game and ended up with a triple-double on 33 occasions.

Scoring 10 points is a virtual prerequisite for that particular achievement, but on February 10, 2017, Green became the first NBA player to record one without hitting that threshold in a game where he had 12 rebounds, 10 assists, and 10 steals but only ended up with 4 points.

The best part is he could have done something even rarer by recording the second 5×5 of his career when you consider he had five steals, but he came up one point short.

The shortest career in NBA history lasted 3.9 seconds

There are currently 79 players who appeared in a grand total of one NBA game before their time in the league came to an end, most of whom only got a handful of minutes during their one and only taste of basketball’s highest level.

That includes JamesOn Curry, who played college basketball at Oklahoma State before the Bulls selected him with the 51st overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. He spent some time in what is now the G League and played overseas before inking a 10-day deal with the Clippers in 2010, and he was on the bench when they faced off against the Celtics on January 24 of that year.

There were 3.9 seconds left to go in the third quarter when Curry was subbed in for Chris Kaman, and that’s how long he was on the floor before heading back to the bench at the start of the fourth quarter. It was his first and last appearance, but he did earn a place in basketball history by becoming the man with the shortest NBA career of all time.

Vince Carter played in four different decades

LeBron James holds the record for the longest career in NBA history at 23 seasons and counting, as he was tied with Vince Carter before setting a new mark to beat when he made his debut during the 2025-26 campaign.

However, Carter is the only player who can say he played in four different decades during a 22-year career that began with the Raptors in 1998 and ended with the Hawks in 2020.

Pete Maravich predicted his death 14 years before he tragically passed away

This is a bit of a departure from the other stat-centric entries on this list, but it still feels like it’s worth mentioning.

Pete Maravich had the most successful college basketball career of all time at LSU before he was selected by the Hawks with the third overall pick in the 1970 NBA Draft.

“Pistol Pete” never managed to reach the same heights as a pro, and during his fourth and final season with Atlanta,  he conducted an interview with the Beaver County Times where he made it clear he cared about life beyond basketball, saying, “I don’t want to play 10 years in the NBA and die of a heart attack at age 40.”

Maravich ultimately spent 10 years in the NBA between the Hawks, Jazz, and Celtics, and in 1980, he was playing a pickup game at a church in California when he collapsed and died in connection to what an autopsy determined to be a congenital heart defect that had gone undetected during his career.

As you can probably guess, he was 40 years old at the time of his passing.

In the 1990s, every team voted in favor of the New Jersey Nets changing their name to the “Swamp Dragons”…aside from the Nets

In the 1990s, the New Jersey Nets decided to explore a rebrand and were on the verge of changing their name to the Swamp Dragons.

The overhaul needed to be approved by the rest of the league, and it looked like the measure had passed after it was approved by a vote of 26-1. However, there was one small problem: the lone dissent came from Nets co-owner David Gerstein after he had second thoughts, and commissioner David Stern subsequently nixed the measure.