Zach Lavine is putting up prime/peak Kobe numbers on even greater efficiency

[hiphopanonymous]

Averaging 29, 5 and 5 with 59 percent accuracy from 2's, 44 percent from 3's, and 86 percent from the line.

How do you older fans figure you'll explain to someone who was born in the 21st century how good a player like Kobe was if his best numbers add up to what fringe top 15 guys are doing today but on even lower efficiency?

[Proctor]

Is this really an argument a Wilt stan wants to make?

[RRR3]

Is this really an argument a Wilt stan wants to make?

[hiphopanonymous]

Is this really an argument a Wilt stan wants to make?

I love dissecting the game and talking hoops - any era - got any thoughts about the topic?

[Gudo]

A lot of players are shooting their career percentages this season. Would take the stats comparison with context.

[Dbrog]

Averaging 29, 5 and 5 with 59 percent accuracy from 2's, 44 percent from 3's, and 86 percent from the line.

How do you older fans figure you'll explain to someone who was born in the 21st century how good a player like Kobe was if his best numbers add up to what fringe top 15 guys are doing today but on even lower efficiency?

Cause pace and defense was a thing and now even d-league people can go off for 30+
Put Lavine in the early 2000s I guarantee he would struggle to score 18ppg

[warriorfan]

Averaging 29, 5 and 5 with 59 percent accuracy from 2's, 44 percent from 3's, and 86 percent from the line.

How do you older fans figure you'll explain to someone who was born in the 21st century how good a player like Kobe was if his best numbers add up to what fringe top 15 guys are doing today but on even lower efficiency?

Tell them it’s a different game now with differences in pace and physicality, it used to be more difficult to put up big numbers.

[hiphopanonymous]

I think I've learned there's a camp that gets dug into "the rules changed - it opened up the game" (things like on or off-ball hand checking, moving screens, etc). Then there's the camp of "shooters today are just so much better - nobody utilized the 3 properly until now".

Is the truth a little bit of both? Or is it really more strongly one or the other?

[fsvr54]

Deep down inside you know why.

Kobe murks this chump any day of the week and twice on Sundays.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

He's the modern day Vince Carter. I don't see how that makes this era so bad.

[Real Men Wear Green]

Averaging 29, 5 and 5 with 59 percent accuracy from 2's, 44 percent from 3's, and 86 percent from the line.

How do you older fans figure you'll explain to someone who was born in the 21st century how good a player like Kobe was if his best numbers add up to what fringe top 15 guys are doing today but on even lower efficiency?

My son doesn't have any mental handicaps so I'm sure he can understand that the rules have changed to make defense more difficult. You can't handcheck, you can't crowd jumpshooters, physicality has been banned and as a result the offensive player has a strong advantage.

Now the game has evolved and generally speaking players of the present era will always be collectively better than the guys they grew up watching, emulating and ultimately improving upon. But if we went with the logic that the improved offensive numbers proves that offensive players are the best ever then why don't we say that the inferior defensive statistics prove that defenders have gotten worse?

Because we know that the rules have changed to benefit perimeter scoring and that the strategy of the game has changed with it to emphasize the three. If you go back far enough? Jerry West didn't even play with the three.

[warriorfan]

I think I've learned there's a camp that gets dug into "the rules changed - it opened up the game" (things like on or off-ball hand checking, moving screens, etc). Then there's the camp of "shooters today are just so much better - nobody utilized the 3 properly until now".

Is the truth a little bit of both? Or is it really more strongly one or the other?

The common sense is a little bit of both. However rule changes have given shooters more and better opportunities so you will see more and better shooting naturally. If you look year by year at league FT% averages, you do see an increase, especially in the last few years with a starting take off after the 2014-2015 season. This coincides with the Warriors success and the rest of the league recognizing the importance of shooting in the modern league.

https://www.basketball-reference.com..._per_game.html

[dankok8]

There is nothing to explain. Compared to 2006 which was back then funny enough called "an offensive explosion" the NBA had an average TS of 53.6% and an average pace of 90.5. The 2021 NBA has an average TS of 57.2% and an average pace of 99.4. Give 2006 Kobe a 3.6% boost in efficiency and two more shots every game because of higher pace and he's at ~39.2 ppg on 59.5 %TS.

[RRR3]

There is nothing to explain. Compared to 2006 which was back then funny enough called "an offensive explosion" the NBA had an average TS of 53.6% and an average pace of 90.5. The 2021 NBA has an average TS of 57.2% and an average pace of 99.4. Give 2006 Kobe a 3.6% boost in efficiency and two more shots every game because of higher pace and he's at ~39.2 ppg on 59.5 %TS.

Kobe wouldn’t play enough minutes to average 39.2 if he played today. He obviously could have on a weak team if he played enough minutes but stars play at most 37 MPG these days, so he’d probably still top at around 35 PPG. His efficiency would absolutely be better though.

[Charlie Sheen]

Averaging 29, 5 and 5 with 59 percent accuracy from 2's, 44 percent from 3's, and 86 percent from the line.

How do you older fans figure you'll explain to someone who was born in the 21st century how good a player like Kobe was if his best numbers add up to what fringe top 15 guys are doing today but on even lower efficiency?

I wouldn't explain efficiency because I don't care too much about that stuff. Basketball isn't an academic exercise for me. I'd color in the context that is lost for someone never saw Kobe play while he was playing.