Wilt Chamberlain may not be the greatest player in NBA history, but in terms of counting stats, he was the most productive and prolific player in league history.
He once averaged 50.4 points a game for an entire season, and he also holds the record for most consecutive field goals made.
A current NBA player is nearing that record, but it isn’t Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, or Anthony Davis.
It’s Dallas Mavericks big man Daniel Gafford, who is just seven baskets shy of that field-goal record, per Bleacher Report.
Daniel Gafford is nearing Wilt’s consecutive made FG record 🤯
He has been perfect through his last 4 games pic.twitter.com/ybN0YTQQZY
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 12, 2024
Gafford, a second-round draft pick in 2019, started to emerge three seasons ago after the Chicago Bulls traded him to the Washington Wizards.
He has a career mark of 70.6 percent from the field, which also happens to be his shooting percentage this season, and no other player is shooting that accurately this year.
While he isn’t a legitimate offensive threat, he is a strong finisher around the basket.
The Mavericks sent Richaun Holmes and a 2024 first-round draft pick to Washington just before this season’s trade deadline in order to acquire Gafford, and he has given them some much-needed size up front.
In 13 games with the Mavericks, he’s averaging 10.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.6 blocked shots per game while making an incredible 76.6 percent of his shot attempts.
Dallas is in eighth place in the Western Conference and is fighting for a chance to make the playoffs after they failed to reach the play-in tournament last season despite landing future Hall of Fame guard Kyrie Irving.
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Analyst Has High Praise For Mavericks Big Man