Latrinsorm
04-25-2014, 03:23 PM
I thought it would be fun to run the following exercise: take a given time period (a player's career, a decade, etc.) and see who had the most top-3 finishes in Win Shares (a composite stat).
Kobe Bryant's career (so far)
1997-2014
9 - James
6 - Nowitzki
5 - Duncan
4 - Durant
4 - Malone
4 - Paul
3 - O'Neal
2 - Garnett
2 - Howard
2 - Jordan
2 - Stoudemire
1 - Allen
1 - Billups
1 - Brand
1 - Gasol
1 - Hill
1 - Love
1 - McGrady
1 - Payton
1 - Robinson
1 - Stojakovic
1 - Wade
0 - Bryant. I wasn't surprised that LeBron was at the top, but I was surprised that he was so far ahead of everyone else. I was also surprised at how low Shaq was, so...
Shaquille O'Neal's career
1993-2011
6 - James
6 - Malone
6 - Nowitzki
5 - Duncan
5 - O'Neal
4 - Jordan
4 - Robinson
2 - Garnett
2 - Howard
2 - Olajuwon
2 - Paul
2 - Stoudemire
1 - Allen
1 - Billups
1 - Brand
1 - Durant
1 - Gasol
1 - Hill
1 - McGrady
1 - Payton
1 - Stockton
1 - Stojakovic
1 - Wade
That's a little better for the Shaqtus. Still pretty ridiculous how well LeBron stacks up though. It seems like 1993 would be enough to get Jordan to the top but we only get 4 full Chicago years in this sample, so let's do...
Michael Jordan's career
1985-1993, 1995-1998, 2002-2003
11 - Jordan
6 - Malone
5 - Johnson
4 - Robinson
4 - Bird
3 - Barkley
2 - Duncan
2 - Nowitzki
1 - Brand
1 - Hill
1 - McGrady
1 - Olajuwon
1 - O'Neal
1 - Stockton
1 - Dantley
1 - Grant
That's the stuff. How about...
The Eighties
1980-1989
6 - Bird
4 - Jordan
4 - Johnson
3 - Malone
3 - Moncrief
3 - Erving
2 - Barkley
2 - Dantley
2 - Abdul-Jabbar
1 - Maxwell
Those are Moses seasons, not Karl, I checked. Another list I'm pretty happy with! Also interesting is that Moncrief and Maxwell are the only non-HOFers. Moncrief probably should be - Final Four in college, two DPOYs, an All-NBA 1st team, higher than you'd think in MVP shares (above King and below Drexler), reached 3 Conference Finals, obviously excellent stats.
Bottom line
1. Correctly identifies the 80s as Bird, Magic, and Michael, along with a brief but pronounced Moses spike.
2. Correctly identifies Jordan as absolutely dominating his peers.
3. Correctly identifies Shaq as great but not super committed in the regular season.
4. Correctly identifies Kobe as no better than the 23rd greatest player of his peers.
Kobe Bryant's career (so far)
1997-2014
9 - James
6 - Nowitzki
5 - Duncan
4 - Durant
4 - Malone
4 - Paul
3 - O'Neal
2 - Garnett
2 - Howard
2 - Jordan
2 - Stoudemire
1 - Allen
1 - Billups
1 - Brand
1 - Gasol
1 - Hill
1 - Love
1 - McGrady
1 - Payton
1 - Robinson
1 - Stojakovic
1 - Wade
0 - Bryant. I wasn't surprised that LeBron was at the top, but I was surprised that he was so far ahead of everyone else. I was also surprised at how low Shaq was, so...
Shaquille O'Neal's career
1993-2011
6 - James
6 - Malone
6 - Nowitzki
5 - Duncan
5 - O'Neal
4 - Jordan
4 - Robinson
2 - Garnett
2 - Howard
2 - Olajuwon
2 - Paul
2 - Stoudemire
1 - Allen
1 - Billups
1 - Brand
1 - Durant
1 - Gasol
1 - Hill
1 - McGrady
1 - Payton
1 - Stockton
1 - Stojakovic
1 - Wade
That's a little better for the Shaqtus. Still pretty ridiculous how well LeBron stacks up though. It seems like 1993 would be enough to get Jordan to the top but we only get 4 full Chicago years in this sample, so let's do...
Michael Jordan's career
1985-1993, 1995-1998, 2002-2003
11 - Jordan
6 - Malone
5 - Johnson
4 - Robinson
4 - Bird
3 - Barkley
2 - Duncan
2 - Nowitzki
1 - Brand
1 - Hill
1 - McGrady
1 - Olajuwon
1 - O'Neal
1 - Stockton
1 - Dantley
1 - Grant
That's the stuff. How about...
The Eighties
1980-1989
6 - Bird
4 - Jordan
4 - Johnson
3 - Malone
3 - Moncrief
3 - Erving
2 - Barkley
2 - Dantley
2 - Abdul-Jabbar
1 - Maxwell
Those are Moses seasons, not Karl, I checked. Another list I'm pretty happy with! Also interesting is that Moncrief and Maxwell are the only non-HOFers. Moncrief probably should be - Final Four in college, two DPOYs, an All-NBA 1st team, higher than you'd think in MVP shares (above King and below Drexler), reached 3 Conference Finals, obviously excellent stats.
Bottom line
1. Correctly identifies the 80s as Bird, Magic, and Michael, along with a brief but pronounced Moses spike.
2. Correctly identifies Jordan as absolutely dominating his peers.
3. Correctly identifies Shaq as great but not super committed in the regular season.
4. Correctly identifies Kobe as no better than the 23rd greatest player of his peers.