Latrinsorm
10-12-2013, 02:26 PM
I was thinking the other day about what NBA player had received their first MVP the latest in their career. Obviously Karl Malone. And the earliest, obviously Wes Unseld. These are two great players but not all-time greats, so I wondered if there was anything interesting we could see in the distribution, and here it is:
1 - Wes Unseld, Wilt Chamberlain
2 - Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
3 - Dave Cowens, Bob McAdoo, Derrick Rose
4 - Oscar Robertson, Bill Walton, Michael Jordan
5 - Larry Bird, Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan
6 - Willis Reed, David Robinson, LeBron James
7 - none
8 - Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal
9 - Charles Barkley, Kevin Garnett, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki
10 - Hakeem Olajuwon
11 - none
12 - Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant
25 men, average year was 5.84.
-I did not include players who played before 1956, as that was the first year the MVP was awarded. This only ruled out Pettit and Cousy.
-I also did not include players who played in the ABA, which ruled out Erving and Moses. Arguably the ABA was just college for Moses, but still.
-If I had a nickel for every time I found similarities between Larry Bird and Allen Iverson... I would have $0.05.
-Speaking of company, the 3 year selection is really weird. Cowens and McAdoo obviously went on to Hall of Fame careers, but their MVP years were clearly their peaks, and that leaves a lot of years not at peak. This is true, McAdoo never made an All-NBA team after his MVP year, Cowens only made two, both 2nd (3rd team wasn't awarded until 1989). Even more coincidentally, they each won MVP following wins by an obvious all-time great in Kareem just as Rose followed LeBron.
-Past players were a lot more likely to get it early. Possibly because older players weren't hanging around as long? All 9 players 8 or more years into their careers are 80s - present.
Obviously the 12 is just fascinating. Guys on this list who had careers shorter than 12 years:
LeBron James (10, will probably get there)
Derrick Rose (4, who knows)
Bill Walton (10)
Dave Cowens (11 counting the comeback year)
Willis Reed (10)
As they say, 90% of success is just showing up.
Looking at my personal top 10, I see...
Russell - 2
Wilt - 1
Kareem - 2
Erving - n/a
Bird - 5
Magic - 8
Jordan - 4
Hakeem - 10
Duncan - 5
LeBron - 6
9 men, average year was 4.78. Only ones who really stand out are Hakeem and Magic. It makes sense for Magic because he had Kareem on his team and Bird to deal with for MVP votes. It seems like Hakeem should have squeezed one in earlier if he really belonged, but on the other hand he could just be the 10th out of 10, which seems about right. Then again, the MVPs for the first 8 years of Hakeem's career were Bird, Magic, or Jordan, and the 9th year was Barkley and Hakeem in a very strong second place.
1 - Wes Unseld, Wilt Chamberlain
2 - Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
3 - Dave Cowens, Bob McAdoo, Derrick Rose
4 - Oscar Robertson, Bill Walton, Michael Jordan
5 - Larry Bird, Allen Iverson, Tim Duncan
6 - Willis Reed, David Robinson, LeBron James
7 - none
8 - Magic Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal
9 - Charles Barkley, Kevin Garnett, Steve Nash, Dirk Nowitzki
10 - Hakeem Olajuwon
11 - none
12 - Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant
25 men, average year was 5.84.
-I did not include players who played before 1956, as that was the first year the MVP was awarded. This only ruled out Pettit and Cousy.
-I also did not include players who played in the ABA, which ruled out Erving and Moses. Arguably the ABA was just college for Moses, but still.
-If I had a nickel for every time I found similarities between Larry Bird and Allen Iverson... I would have $0.05.
-Speaking of company, the 3 year selection is really weird. Cowens and McAdoo obviously went on to Hall of Fame careers, but their MVP years were clearly their peaks, and that leaves a lot of years not at peak. This is true, McAdoo never made an All-NBA team after his MVP year, Cowens only made two, both 2nd (3rd team wasn't awarded until 1989). Even more coincidentally, they each won MVP following wins by an obvious all-time great in Kareem just as Rose followed LeBron.
-Past players were a lot more likely to get it early. Possibly because older players weren't hanging around as long? All 9 players 8 or more years into their careers are 80s - present.
Obviously the 12 is just fascinating. Guys on this list who had careers shorter than 12 years:
LeBron James (10, will probably get there)
Derrick Rose (4, who knows)
Bill Walton (10)
Dave Cowens (11 counting the comeback year)
Willis Reed (10)
As they say, 90% of success is just showing up.
Looking at my personal top 10, I see...
Russell - 2
Wilt - 1
Kareem - 2
Erving - n/a
Bird - 5
Magic - 8
Jordan - 4
Hakeem - 10
Duncan - 5
LeBron - 6
9 men, average year was 4.78. Only ones who really stand out are Hakeem and Magic. It makes sense for Magic because he had Kareem on his team and Bird to deal with for MVP votes. It seems like Hakeem should have squeezed one in earlier if he really belonged, but on the other hand he could just be the 10th out of 10, which seems about right. Then again, the MVPs for the first 8 years of Hakeem's career were Bird, Magic, or Jordan, and the 9th year was Barkley and Hakeem in a very strong second place.