Per-Game Stats Adjusted to 2016-17 Pace: 37.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.9 steals, 0.4 blocks
Advanced Metrics: 28.0 player efficiency rating (PER), 15.3 win shares (WS), 359.95 total points added (TPA)
That Kobe Bryant won only a single MVP (2007-08) remains one of the most inexplicable statistics contained within his illustrious career for the Los Angeles Lakers. He came close two years before he actually got his hands on the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, though he watched as Steve Nash, then a Phoenix Suns point guard, accepted the honor.
Considering NBA teams operated at slower paces a decade ago, during a segment of league history in which defenses often reigned supreme, Bryant’s scoring pace was flat-out ridiculous. Adjusted to the NBA’s current pace, he’d have averaged a staggering 37.7 points and 4.8 assists while shooting 45.0 percent from the field, 34.7 percent from downtown and 85.0 percent from the stripe.
Are those sterling efficiency numbers? Not really, but they’re more than acceptable when coming in conjunction with such impressive volume. Bryant meant everything to a Lakers squad that snuck into the playoffs at 45-37 while Lamar Odom cheap nfl nike jerseys free shipping and Smush Parker served as the team’s only other above-average contributors, per NBA Math’s TPA.
As a result, Nash was the lone player to earn more first-place votes. But Bryant still isn’t the top-ranked non-MVP from this particular campaign.
Actual MVP: Bill Russell
Per-Game Stats Adjusted to 2016-17 Pace: 26.3 points, 14.9 rebounds, 3.8 assists cheap nike jerseys nfl
BOSTON – 1967: Oscar Robertson #14 of the Cincinnati Royals moves the ball against Bill Russell #6 of the Boston Celtics during a game circa 1967 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1967 NBAE (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images)
Advanced Metrics: 28.2 PER, 14.8 WS
This is why it’s important to put numbers in historical context.
Just three seasons removed from Seattle University, Elgin Baylor produced a staggering 34.8 points,cheap nfl jerseys from china nike 19.8 rebounds and 5.1 assists during his average contest for the Los Angeles Lakers in their first campaign after moving away from Minneapolis. But those per-game marks don’t tell the full story, since the entire league operated at a break-neck pace, sprinting up and down the floor and barely hesitating before launching up attempts.
Baylor’s Lakers used 124.9 possessions per 48 minutes, and that mark topped only the New York Knicks (122.9) and Cincinnati Royals (122.8) in the eight-team Association. For the sake of comparison, the Brooklyn Nets are currently the NBA’s fasted team, making the most least of 101.2 possessions per 48 minutes. cheap new nike nfl jerseys
This isn’t to discredit Baylor. The Hall of Fame small forward still produced an all-time great season, even pacing the league in PER while he converted one shot after another. But it’s just not quite the same as averaging even 27 points in today’s landscape, if only from a pace perspective. cheap nfl jerseys nike china
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.