Roundball_Rock
06-14-2020, 10:51 AM
This lists their TS % in the playoffs with their RS % in those same years in parentheses as a comparison. Generally speaking, "prime" here is defined as the first and last year a player was an all-star. I also throw in some other numbers for Kawhi, Irving, and Westbrook, given their unique situations. Players are listed in "like and like" groups to make easier "apples to apples" comparisons.
10’s Stars Playoff Efficiency Versus Norm
LeBron 06’-16’: 56.7% (59.2%)
LeBron 06’-18’: 57.9% (59.6%)
Durant 10’-19’: 59.7% (62.6%)
George 13’-19’: 57.1% (56.5%)
Kawhi 14’-19’: 61.9% (60.2%)
Kawhi 16’-19’: 62.8% (60.9%)
Butler 15’-19’: 55.5% (57.9%)
Curry 14’-19’: 61.5% (64.2%)
Westbrook 11’-19’: 51.1% (53.6%)
Westbrook 17’-18’: 50.2% (54.0%)
Paul 08’-16’: 58.4% (58.5%)
Lillard 14’-19’: 54.4% (57.6%)
Irving 13’-19’: 56.0% (57.1%)
Irving 19’: 48.8% (59.2%)
Lowry 15’-19’: 55.1% (57.7%)
Giannis 17’-19’: 58.0% (61.3%)
Davis 14’-19’: 59.3% (58.7%)
Bosh 06’-16’: 55.3% (57.7%)
Aldridge 12’-19’: 51.8% (54.5%)
Embiid 18’-19’: 54.1% (58.4%)
Howard 07’-14’: 61.3% (60.5%)
DeRozan 14’-19’: 50.3% (54.2%)
Harden 13’-19’: 56.9% (61.0%)
Klay 15’-19’: 56.6% (58.9%)
Wade 06’-12’: 56.6% (57.1%)
Observations/Comments
*I first did this with 90's players. What sticks out the most is how much higher efficiency is today than in the 10's. This is a prime example of why it is nonsensical to compare numbers across eras. For reference, the most efficient 90's star was Barkley at 58.3%; the most efficient player here is #1 option Kawhi at 62.8%. Barkley's # would be 7th on this list (of course if he actually played today he probably would be around 64-65%).
*In the 90's only Hakeem increased his efficiency in the playoffs. Here, to date, George, Kawhi, Davis, Howard have done it. Wade, Paul maintained. This suggests either players today are more clutch or that defenses are weaker overall so the delta between playoff defenses and regular season defenses is not as vast as in the past. Personally, I think it is the latter.
*The level of declines is much smaller than for the 90's players. The biggest decliners here are around 4% (Malone was -6% in TS and -7% in eFG for the 90's as by far the biggest decliner). Embiid, DeRozan, Harden are the biggest decliners here, falling 4%. Embiid is a a small sample size and Harden in recent years shows some signs of improving his playoff performances. Let's see how these numbers shake out over their full primes.
*Irving crashed and burned as a #1 option--declining over 10%--but that was one playoff run. Westbrook declined 4% as a #1 option--worse than 2.5% overall. Kawhi increased as both a #1 and overall--actually increased a few tenths more as a #1 option.
*Lowry declined 3%--which is on the bad end of these players but not major compared to 90's level declines (3% would probably be around the average). DeRozen lives up to his reputation as a big decliner (for his era), though.
*Giannis is down 3% but small sample size.
*LeBron's sample size is the most unique--because it includes 8 finals trips because you tend to face tougher defenses the deeper you go into the playoffs. I suspect if you broke it down to the first two rounds his numbers would be better.
*Some of these players missed the playoffs a lot in their primes so their "prime" number doesn't foot neatly with their playoff numbers.
10’s Stars Playoff Efficiency Versus Norm
LeBron 06’-16’: 56.7% (59.2%)
LeBron 06’-18’: 57.9% (59.6%)
Durant 10’-19’: 59.7% (62.6%)
George 13’-19’: 57.1% (56.5%)
Kawhi 14’-19’: 61.9% (60.2%)
Kawhi 16’-19’: 62.8% (60.9%)
Butler 15’-19’: 55.5% (57.9%)
Curry 14’-19’: 61.5% (64.2%)
Westbrook 11’-19’: 51.1% (53.6%)
Westbrook 17’-18’: 50.2% (54.0%)
Paul 08’-16’: 58.4% (58.5%)
Lillard 14’-19’: 54.4% (57.6%)
Irving 13’-19’: 56.0% (57.1%)
Irving 19’: 48.8% (59.2%)
Lowry 15’-19’: 55.1% (57.7%)
Giannis 17’-19’: 58.0% (61.3%)
Davis 14’-19’: 59.3% (58.7%)
Bosh 06’-16’: 55.3% (57.7%)
Aldridge 12’-19’: 51.8% (54.5%)
Embiid 18’-19’: 54.1% (58.4%)
Howard 07’-14’: 61.3% (60.5%)
DeRozan 14’-19’: 50.3% (54.2%)
Harden 13’-19’: 56.9% (61.0%)
Klay 15’-19’: 56.6% (58.9%)
Wade 06’-12’: 56.6% (57.1%)
Observations/Comments
*I first did this with 90's players. What sticks out the most is how much higher efficiency is today than in the 10's. This is a prime example of why it is nonsensical to compare numbers across eras. For reference, the most efficient 90's star was Barkley at 58.3%; the most efficient player here is #1 option Kawhi at 62.8%. Barkley's # would be 7th on this list (of course if he actually played today he probably would be around 64-65%).
*In the 90's only Hakeem increased his efficiency in the playoffs. Here, to date, George, Kawhi, Davis, Howard have done it. Wade, Paul maintained. This suggests either players today are more clutch or that defenses are weaker overall so the delta between playoff defenses and regular season defenses is not as vast as in the past. Personally, I think it is the latter.
*The level of declines is much smaller than for the 90's players. The biggest decliners here are around 4% (Malone was -6% in TS and -7% in eFG for the 90's as by far the biggest decliner). Embiid, DeRozan, Harden are the biggest decliners here, falling 4%. Embiid is a a small sample size and Harden in recent years shows some signs of improving his playoff performances. Let's see how these numbers shake out over their full primes.
*Irving crashed and burned as a #1 option--declining over 10%--but that was one playoff run. Westbrook declined 4% as a #1 option--worse than 2.5% overall. Kawhi increased as both a #1 and overall--actually increased a few tenths more as a #1 option.
*Lowry declined 3%--which is on the bad end of these players but not major compared to 90's level declines (3% would probably be around the average). DeRozen lives up to his reputation as a big decliner (for his era), though.
*Giannis is down 3% but small sample size.
*LeBron's sample size is the most unique--because it includes 8 finals trips because you tend to face tougher defenses the deeper you go into the playoffs. I suspect if you broke it down to the first two rounds his numbers would be better.
*Some of these players missed the playoffs a lot in their primes so their "prime" number doesn't foot neatly with their playoff numbers.