When DeMar DeRozan scored 30 points last Friday in the Toronto Raptors' 113-111 victory against the Denver Nuggets, he matched Michael Jordan, Alex English, Nate "Tiny" Archibald and Rick Barry as the only players to score at least 30 points in 10 of their first 12 games.

But it wasn't just another of those arcane statistics so popular these days, though DeRozan was the first one ever to do so for a team so far north.

It was more a tribute to those players, and probably why they likely have such regard for DeRozan in this video-game basketball era.