AlternativeAcc.
12-15-2020, 04:07 PM
Everybody thinks that players are more different from one year to the next than they actually are, especially guys whove been in the league for 3+ years
They say x year was the best for x player because of stats, but they never factor the circumstances.
For instance, peak Durant is usually believed to be 2014, his MVP year. But the reason isn't because he was actually better in 2014 than other years, the reason he was better statistically is because westbrook was injured and thus played with a smarter PG, and didn't have to worry about coexisting with a cancerous moron. Durant had the same abilities the year before and the year after. The same is true for most other players as well. Durant in 2014 wasn't much different than any year from 2012-current. He's mostly the same guy with the same impact.
The point is that circumstances change more than players do and that warps the perception. This obviously isn't true for guys who get injured or genuinely fall off like Wade or arenas... but those situations are again obvious.
Playing with different players, coaches, systems, and objectives changes stats way more than abilities or player improvements/regressions from one year to the next.
Guys are who they are for the most part after several years in the NBA, improvements are very subtle and the mental improvements as they age usually offset the athletic decline to a wash.
They say x year was the best for x player because of stats, but they never factor the circumstances.
For instance, peak Durant is usually believed to be 2014, his MVP year. But the reason isn't because he was actually better in 2014 than other years, the reason he was better statistically is because westbrook was injured and thus played with a smarter PG, and didn't have to worry about coexisting with a cancerous moron. Durant had the same abilities the year before and the year after. The same is true for most other players as well. Durant in 2014 wasn't much different than any year from 2012-current. He's mostly the same guy with the same impact.
The point is that circumstances change more than players do and that warps the perception. This obviously isn't true for guys who get injured or genuinely fall off like Wade or arenas... but those situations are again obvious.
Playing with different players, coaches, systems, and objectives changes stats way more than abilities or player improvements/regressions from one year to the next.
Guys are who they are for the most part after several years in the NBA, improvements are very subtle and the mental improvements as they age usually offset the athletic decline to a wash.