The trade that brought Damian Lillard to the Milwaukee Bucks, where he will join Giannis Antetokounmpo, is helping the team reach a level that only one other team has reached in NBA history.
According to @EliasSports: Lillard and Giannis would become the second teammates in NBA history to play together after scoring 30 points per game the previous season. The other duo was Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, who scored an average of 30 points each on the 1961-62 Lakers and remained together in 1962-63 as well.
According to @EliasSports:
Lillard and Giannis will become the 2nd teammates in NBA history to play together after each tallying 30 PPG in the prior season.
The other duo was Jerry West and Elgin Baylor, who each averaged 30 on the 1961-62 Lakers and ran it back in 1962-63. pic.twitter.com/aggwH7euMw
– ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 27, 2023
Both Lillard and Antetokounmpo surpassed the 30-point threshold last NBA season, which means the Bucks will have a pair of teammates who reached that level in the 2022-23 season. The only time this has happened in the past was in the 1961-62 season, when Jerry West and Elgin Baylor both surpassed the 30-point threshold. No other team has had a pair of teammates score 30 points per game in the same season.
That season the Lakers had a very strong team. They finished in first place in the Western Division with a 54-26 mark. They made it to the NBA Finals and took the Boston Celtics to 7 games in the championship round before losing the decisive game. Baylor averaged 38.3 points and West added 30.8 points a night. The hope for Milwaukee is to bring home another title.
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