Trevor “Not Mexican” Ariza was very close to a triple-double this game: he was just one rebound short. His final line of 23/9/10 might not have achieved that arbitrary statistical measure, but what it did do was prove to Washington fans that cutting ties with soon-to-be RFA Kelly Oubre Jr. in order to acquire the veteran non-Mexican Ariza was a good move.
I don’t feel like Ariza is getting enough heat for how thoroughly he quit on the Suns, so let’s put it in terms of triple-doubles. The only triple-double Ariza was ever close to achieving in Phoenix was the one where he got ten “half-hearted claps after teammate buckets”, ten “blown defensive assignments because he just doesn’t care anymore”, and ten “secretive text messages to ex-teammates on other teams wondering if a trade could go down”. On-court triple-doubles were utterly out of reach for the apathetic, overpaid trash heap that Ariza became in Phoenix.
The ‘Zards are honestly not even in a much better situation than the Suns are, since they’re both teams saddled by meddlesome, clueless upper management. But, for some reason, Ariza (who is not Mexican) just plays better there. Weird.