Scoring 50 points in a basketball game is impressive regardless of the level. Whether it be your local park, the YMCA, or the highest level in the NBA, getting enough buckets for 50 points is always impressive. The difficulty of the feat is only highlighted by the limited number of Oklahoma City Thunder players who have achieved the coveted 50-burger.
There have been 20 50-point games in Thunder history coming from eight different players. It's an exclusive list that is smaller than an NBA roster, and while it may seem easy to name them all, it's harder than you think.
Casual fans can guess the most obvious players with ease. Diehard fans can name all eight. Bonus points if you can name them in chronological order. Want to test your Thunder knowledge? Check out the Sporcle quiz below.
Can you name every 50-point scorer in Thunder history?
Only those living under a rock are going to miss the three most recent players to score 50 points for the Thunder. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Russell Westbrook, and Kevin Durant are the last three faces of the team and have all dropped 50 points on multiple occassions.
While any casual fan could have guessed those three players, it's hard to imagine that many fans knew that Westbrook actually has the most of the bunch. Conventional wisdom would tell us that Durant or SGA, who have both been tabbed the best scorer in the league at various points, would have the most 50-point games in franchise history.
That honor instead goes to Westbrook, who had a longer tenure with the Thunder than either player and scored in bunches when he went on his triple-double craze in the mid-to-late 2010s. Westbrook's six 50-point games are the most in franchise history, as no other player outside of this big three has more than one 50-point game.
Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis are familiar names from the franchise's time in Seattle so it's no surprise to see them there. Fred Brown, Spencer Haywood and Dale Ellis rounded out the list as the three players who are guessed the least by users. According to Spotrac's data, only 15% of users correctly guessed Ellis.
Ellis' spot at the bottom of the list is surprising for those who have followed the Thunder before their time in OKC. After a non-eventful start to his career in Dallas, Ellis won Most Improved Player in his first season with the franchise in 1987. He went from averaging 8.2 points a game with the Mavericks to averaging 25.6 points per game his first four years with the Sonics.
The players who missed the cut are even more surprising than those who made it
There are several franchise icons who notably never scored 50 points in a game for the Thunder. Gary Payton and Sean Kemp are the two most iconic players from the Seattle days and neither ever scored 50 points in a game. That's surprising for the No. 2 and No. 8 scorers in franchise history.
Jack Sikma, who is No. 8 in franchise history in total points, also never crossed the 50-point line. The seven-time all-star and Hall of Famer never even reached the 40-point line, as his career high with the Sonics was 39 points.
There have also been four close-call 49-point games in Thunder history. Two belong to Westbrook, one belongs to Ellis, and one belongs to the strangest name in this entire article: Bob Rule. Rule played on the Sonics from 1967 through 1971 and fell one point shy of the 50-burger in 1969 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Congratulations to anyone who managed to get 100% on the quiz, because if Rule had made the cut, you may not have.
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