Despite his Sacramento Kings losing on Friday, De’Aaron Fox put together a franchise-best performance. Sacramento fell 130-126 in overtime to the Minnesota Timberwolves, but Fox set a new franchise record with his 60 points. The 26-year-old shot 22-35 from the field, 6-10 from beyond the arc, and 10-11 from the foul line. Now in his seventh season, Fox’s previous career-high scoring output was 44 points.
The previous franchise single-game scoring record remained unbroken for nearly 6.5 decades. Hall of Famer Jack Twyman dropped 60 points on January 15, 1960. The team was then known as the Cincinnati Royals.
Out of the 30 current NBA franchises, the Kings single-game scoring record had been the record that had stood the longest. That is until Fox’s performance on Friday surpassed Twyman’s mark. Which players now have the longest-standing single-game franchise scoring records?
Golden State Warriors – Wilt Chamberlain (100 points, 3/2/62)
There’s a reason that Wilt Chamberlain’s team scoring record has lasted more than six decades. It’s because nobody else in NBA history has come within even 18 points of his 100! While Chamberlain holds countless records that seem unbreakable, he was a notoriously poor free throw shooter. Not on March 2, 1962 though, as he went 28-32 from the charity stripe.
Utah Jazz – Pete Maravich (68 points, 2/25/77)
Known as the New Orleans Jazz back in 1977, Pete Maravich dropped 68 on the New York Knicks on February 25 of that year. That season, he won the scoring title averaging 31.1 points per outing. The only other 60-point performance by the franchise was accomplished by Karl Malone, who scored 61 in 1990.
Denver Nuggets – David Thompson (73 points, 4/9/78)
David Thompson and George Gervin were engaged in a battle to win the scoring title on the last day of the 1977-78 season. Thompson was given the green light to go for it, and he scored 73 points. While he was a superb scorer, he never had more than 44 points in any other game. It wasn’t enough to win the scoring title though. Playing later in the day, Gervin needed 59 points to overtake Thompson as the scoring champ. He scored 63.
Atlanta Hawks – Dominique Wilkins (57 points, 12/10/86)
Fifty-seven points has actually been reached four times by a Hawks player, with Dominique Wilkins doing it most recently about 38 years ago. ‘The Human Highlight Film’ also scored 57 in a game exactly six months prior to that. The other two times that a Hawks player scored 57 are Lou Hudson on November 10, 1969 and Bob Pettit on February 18, 1961 (then known as the St. Louis Hawks).
Chicago Bulls – Michael Jordan (69 points, 3/28/90)
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Michael Jordan has the franchise single-game scoring record. As a matter of fact, he scored at least 57 seven times while donning a Chicago jersey. Other than Jordan, Chet Walker has the most points in a game for the Bulls with 56.
Los Angeles Clippers – Charles Smith (52 points, 12/1/90)
Charles Smith’s 52-point outing came nearly 34 years ago. On that day, he tied Bob McAdoo’s single-game franchise record for points scored (team was known as the Buffalo Braves when McAdoo played for them). While Smith had an excellent outing for the Clippers on his franchise-record evening, don’t ask Knicks fans what they think of him.
