Roundball_Rock
06-09-2009, 05:29 AM
Q: The NBA should start keeping track of players' winning percentages. Wouldn't this give us at least a decent idea for who are the biggest "winners" in not just basketball but in all sports?
-- Stephen, Baltimore
SG: Very cool idea. I brought out the heavy hitters for this one (Steve Hirdt and the Elias Sports Bureau) and asked them to check the following 14 guys. Here's what they found.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/Shack1212/chart.jpg
I found this interesting. I wish more players, such as Kobe, Isiah, and Hakeem were included. Was there really a need to include four Spurs players???? That said, the list includes 5 GOAT candidates, two or three other top 10 of all-time players, and a further three or four current or future HOFers (depending on whether you think Parker will get in). If you are going to choose a small sample such as this, aside from the Spurs fixation, this is a solid group.
The thing that stuck out the most is that among this group only two players had a better winning percentage in the playoffs than in the regular season: Jordan and Magic. Magic is particularly impressive. His teams did 10% better in the playoffs than the regular season.
I was also surprised at the sharp decline in the fortunes of Bird's teams. While he had the best regular season percentage, his teams slipped 13% in the playoffs. Duncan falling 8% and Shaq 7% was surprising as well, but not as much as Bird.
Simmon's chart ranks them by regular season record. Here is how they would rank based on playoff winning percentage:
1) Magic Johnson 74%
2) Michael Jordan 66.5%
3) Scottie Pippen 65.4%
3) Manu Ginboli 65.4%
5) Kareem Abdul Jabbar 65%
6) Sam Jones 64.9%
7) Bill Russell 64.8%
8) Cheap Shot Rob 63.5%
9) Tim Duncan 63.1%
10) Tony Parker 61.5%
11) Larry Bird 60.4%
12) Shaquille O'Neal 60.1%
13) Jerry West 57.8%
14) Bob Cousy 56.9%
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090522/part2&sportCat=nba
-- Stephen, Baltimore
SG: Very cool idea. I brought out the heavy hitters for this one (Steve Hirdt and the Elias Sports Bureau) and asked them to check the following 14 guys. Here's what they found.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b306/Shack1212/chart.jpg
I found this interesting. I wish more players, such as Kobe, Isiah, and Hakeem were included. Was there really a need to include four Spurs players???? That said, the list includes 5 GOAT candidates, two or three other top 10 of all-time players, and a further three or four current or future HOFers (depending on whether you think Parker will get in). If you are going to choose a small sample such as this, aside from the Spurs fixation, this is a solid group.
The thing that stuck out the most is that among this group only two players had a better winning percentage in the playoffs than in the regular season: Jordan and Magic. Magic is particularly impressive. His teams did 10% better in the playoffs than the regular season.
I was also surprised at the sharp decline in the fortunes of Bird's teams. While he had the best regular season percentage, his teams slipped 13% in the playoffs. Duncan falling 8% and Shaq 7% was surprising as well, but not as much as Bird.
Simmon's chart ranks them by regular season record. Here is how they would rank based on playoff winning percentage:
1) Magic Johnson 74%
2) Michael Jordan 66.5%
3) Scottie Pippen 65.4%
3) Manu Ginboli 65.4%
5) Kareem Abdul Jabbar 65%
6) Sam Jones 64.9%
7) Bill Russell 64.8%
8) Cheap Shot Rob 63.5%
9) Tim Duncan 63.1%
10) Tony Parker 61.5%
11) Larry Bird 60.4%
12) Shaquille O'Neal 60.1%
13) Jerry West 57.8%
14) Bob Cousy 56.9%
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090522/part2&sportCat=nba