Statistical Trivia

[Crow]

Jrue Holiday, lowest BPM estimate in 10 years.

Lillard's, less than half of last season but 3 times Jrue's.

[Mike G]

A rainy day.
Fewest totals in as many minutes:

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most/fewest     tm    min.  FG
Danny Green     Phl    18    0
Maxwell Lewis   LAL    52    1
Oshae Brissett  Bos    90    3
P.J. Tucker     tot   239    6
Dean Wade       Cle   303   18
Nic Batum       tot   369   32
Joe Ingles      Orl   411   36
Pat Connaughton Mil   416   38
Josh Okogie     Phx   480   42
Mat. Thybulle   Por   498   48
Royce O'Neale   Brk   581   56
Mi. Robinson    NYK   613   58
Kyle Lowry      Mia   617   66
Taurean Prince  LAL   618   69
Grayson Allen   Phx   629   78
Harr. Barnes    Sac   632   79
Isaiah Stewart  Det   682   87
Kentavious C-P  Den   779   88
Nikola Vucevic  Chi  *790  157

most/fewest     tm    min.  FT
Jevon Carter    Chi   325    0
Quentin Grimes  NYK   431    2
Dorian F-Smith  Brk   622    4
Malik Beasley   Mil   652    8
Max Strus       Cle   770   23
Nikola Vucevic  Chi  *790   35

most/fewest     tm    min. ORb
Vasilije Micic  OKC    98    0
Cameron Payne   Mil   375    1
Isaiah Joe      OKC   433    2
Norman Powell   LAC   511    4
Kevin Durant    Phx   697    5
Coby White      Chi   774    8
Kentavious C-P  Den   779   10
Nikola Vucevic  Chi  *790   68

most/fewest     tm    min. DRb
Trent Forrest   Atl    43    0
Gabe Vincent    LAL   113    2
Kira Lewis      NOP   128    7
Dru Smith       Mia   131    8
Markelle Fultz  Orl   143    9
Jevon Carter    Chi   325   10
Quentin Grimes  NYK   431   20
Mat. Thybulle   Por   498   31
Kentavious C-P  Den   779   34
Nikola Vucevic  Chi  *790  169

most/fewest     tm    min  Ast
Jamal Cain      Mia    76    0
Kevin Knox      Det   130    3
James Wiseman   Det   135    4
Nick Richards   Cha   255    5
Kelly Oubre     Phl   275    7
Chris Boucher   Tor   292    8
Yuta Watanabe   Phx   293    9
Dean Wade       Cle   303   11
Walker Kessler  Uta   377   12
Mit. Robinson   NYK   613   15
John Collins    Uta   683   20
Rudy Gobert     Min   688   23
Michael Porter  Den   735   37
Tobias Harris   Phl   737   54
Kentavious C-P  Den   779   61
Nikola Vucevic  Chi  *790   73

most/fewest     tm    min  Stl
Trey Lyles      Sac   136    0
Isaiah Livers   Det   166    1
Marvin Bagley   Det   366    2
Ivica Zubac     LAC   559    4
Kyle Kuzma      Was   658    6
Isaiah Stewart  Det   682    7
Michael Porter  Den   735   11
Pascal Siakam   Tor   755   16
Tyrese Maxey    Phl   768   17
Nikola Vucevic  Chi  *790   19

most/fewest     tm    min  Blk
Jordan Hawkins  NOP   596    0
Jalen Brunson   NYK   743    1
Cade Cunningham Det   768    5
Coby White      Chi   774    6
Shaedon Sharpe  Por   776    8
Kentavious C-P  Den   779   10
Nikola Vucevic  Chi  *790   16

most/fewest     tm    min   TO
A.J. Green      Min   110    0
Kris Murray     Por   128    1
Otto Porter     Tor   130    2
Justin Holiday  Den   180    3
Keita B-Diop    Phx   356    4
Nic Batum       tot   369    7
Cason Wallace   OKC   465   11
Gary Trent      Tor   484   12
Tyus Jones      Was   568   14
Malik Beasley   Mil   652   16
Brook Lopez     Mil   666   20
DeMar DeRozan   Chi   748   27
Kentavious C-P  Den   779   28
Nikola Vucevic  Chi  *790   40

most/fewest     tm    min   PF
Chuma Okeke     Orl    50    0
Tre Mann        OKC    71    1
Boj. Bogdanovic Det    88    2
Luke Kennard    Mem   172    4
Tyler Herro     Mia   272   13
Jimmy Butler    Mia   613   16
Tyr. Haliburton Ind   619   20
Harrison Barnes Sac   632   21
LeBron James    LAL   734   25
Tobias Harris   Phl   737   36
Tyrese Maxey    Phl   768   39
Kentavious C-P  Den   779   47
Nikola Vucevic  Chi  *790   63

https://www.basketball-reference.com/le ... otals.html
* - league leader

[Mike G]

All-NBA selections of the last 5 years.
Ranked by Total of: 1stTm*3 + 2nd*2 + 3rd*1

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T    all-N   pos  1st  2nd  3rd
15   Giannis  F    5    0    0
13   Jokic    C    3    2    0
12   Luka     G    4    0    0
10   Curry    G    2    2    0
9    Embiid   C    1    3    0
8    LeBron   F    1    1    3
7    Lillard  G    0    3    1
7    Kawhi    F    1    2    0
7    Tatum    F    2    0    1
6    Harden   G    2    0    0
5    Paul     G    0    2    1
4    Durant   F    0    2    0
4    Butler   F    0    1    2
4    George   F    1    0    1
3    Randle   F    0    1    1
3    Siakam   F    0    1    1
3    Kyrie    G    0    1    1
3    Shai     G    1    0    0
3    Booker   G    1    0    0
3    Gobert   C    0    0    3
3    A Davis  C    1    0    0
2    J Brown  F    0    1    0
2    Mitchell G    0    1    0
2    DeRozan  F    0    1    0
2    Morant   G    0    1    0
2   Westbrook G    0    0    2
1    Sabonis  C    0    0    1
1    Fox      G    0    0    1
1    Towns    C    0    0    1
1    Trae     G    0    0    1
1    Beal     G    0    0    1
1    Simmons  G    0    0    1
1    Griffin  F    0    0    1
1    Kemba    G    0    0    1

[Mike G]

Where to put this.
After assigning full season "win" projections to players (thru 32-36 games) based on their BPM (most), WS/48, and (least) PER; they are sorted by team and assigned a rank within team.
Here are the 5 best and 5 weakest top stars, 2nd bananas, 6th men, etc:

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rk  proW    best        tm      rk  proW    worst        tm
1   18.7  Nikola Jokić  Den      1   5.7   Nic Claxton   Brk
1   17.4  Shai G-A      OKC      1   5.2 Malcolm Brogdon Por
1   15.4  Joel Embiid   Phl      1   5.0   Terry Rozier  Cha
1   14.8  Giannis A     Mil      1   4.4  Devin Vassell  SAS
1   14.5  Luka Dončić   Dal      1   3.6 Cade Cunningham Det
                        
2   11.4  LeBron James  LAL      2   5.4   Kyrie Irving  Dal
2   11.2  Tyrese Maxey  Phl      2   4.7   Jerami Grant  Por
2   10.2  Jayson Tatum  Bos      2   4.3   V Wembanyama  SAS
2   10.0  James Harden  LAC      2   3.9  Mark Williams  Cha
2    9.7  Chet Holmgren OKC      2   3.2   Jalen Duren   Det
                        
3   8.3   Rudy Gobert   Min      3   3.7  Keldon Johnson SAS
3   8.1   Paul George   LAC      3   3.4  Nick Richards  Cha
3   7.8   Kr Porziņģis  Bos      3   3.4   Santi Aldama  Mem
3   7.6  Brandon Ingram NOP      3   3.4   Deni Avdija   Was
3   7.3  Tobias Harris  Phl      3   2.3  Marcus Sasser  Det
                        
4   7.6   Karl-A Towns  Min      4   3.2   Kyle Kuzma    Was
4   6.5   CJ McCollum   NOP      4   3.0 Anfernee Simons Por
4   6.3   Jrue Holiday  Bos      4   2.6   Zach Collins  SAS
4   6.1   Ivica Zubac   LAC      4   2.2   Jaden Ivey    Det
4   5.9  Michael Porter Den      4   2.2   Ja Morant     Mem
                        
rk  proW    best        tm      rk  proW    worst        tm
5   6.0   Al Horford    Bos      5   2.5  Taurean Prince LAL
5   5.2  Herbert Jones  NOP      5   2.2  Marvin Bagley  Det
5   5.1   Imm Quickley  NYK      5   2.0   John Konchar  Mem
5   4.9   Naz Reid      Min      5   1.7   Tre Jones     SAS
5   4.8  Onyeka Okongwu Atl      5   1.5  Corey Kispert  Was
                        
6   5.7   Jaylen Brown  Bos      6   2.0  Rui Hachimura  LAL
6   4.4  Norman Powell  LAC      6   1.9  Chris Boucher  Tor
6   4.4   Jaime Jaquez  Mia      6   1.8 Bismack Biyombo Mem
6   4.2  Jalen Johnson  Atl      6   1.6   Cedi Osman    SAS
6   4.0   Josh Hart     NYK      6   1.2   D Gallinari   Was
                        
7   4.5   Sam Hauser    Bos      7   1.8  PJ Washington  Cha
7   3.9   Saddiq Bey    Atl      7   1.7  Vince Williams Mem
7   3.8   Mi Robinson   NYK      7   1.5   Cam Reddish   LAL
7   3.4   Tyler Herro   Mia      7   1.4  Charles Bassey SAS
7   3.4  Dorian F-Smith Brk      7   1.2 Bilal Coulibaly Was
                        
8   4.2   P Pritchard   Bos      8   1.3  Sasha Vezenkov Sac
8   3.1  Nicolas Batum  Phl      8   1.3  Christian Wood LAL
8   3.0   Moses Moody   GSW      8   1.1  Jul Champagnie SAS
8   2.8  T.J. McConnell Ind      8   1.0   Delon Wright  Was
8   2.8 Christian Braun Den      8    .7  Brandon Miller Cha

rk  proW    best        tm      rk  proW    worst        tm
9   3.0   Luke Kornet   Bos      9   .9  Eugene Omoruyi  Was
9   2.7  Draymond Green GSW      9   .7   Amir Coffey    LAC
9   2.6   P Beverley    Phl      9   .6   Nick Smith     Cha
9   2.5   Dean Wade     Cle      9   .4   Jaxson Hayes   LAL
9   2.4  Jonathan Isaac Orl      9   .2 Garrison Mathews Atl
                        
10  2.1  Trayce J-Davis GSW     10   .5   Otto Porter    Tor
10  2.0   B Mathurin    Ind     10   .4  James Bouknight Cha
10  1.9  Jayl Williams  OKC     10   .4   Jevon Carter   Chi
10  1.9  Anthony Black  Orl     10   .2  Colin Castleton LAL
10  1.9   Tr Thompson   Cle     10   .1   Trent Forrest  Atl
                        
11  1.5  Jordan Hawkins NOP     11   .4   A.J. Lawson    Dal
11  1.4   Sam Merrill   Cle     11   .3   Bryce McGowens Cha
11  1.3   Mo Bamba      Phl     11   .3   Dalen Terry    Chi
11  1.3  James Wiseman  Det     11   .1   Gabe Vincent   LAL
11  1.3  Caleb Houstan  Orl     11   .0   Patty Mills    Atl
                        
12  1.0   Matt Ryan     NOP     12   .2   Jericho Sims   NYK
12  1.0  Wendell Carter Orl     12   .2   Chris Duarte   Sac
12  1.0   Nikola Jović  Mia     12   .2   Terry Taylor   Chi
12   .9   Jalen Wilson  Brk     12   .0   J Vanderbilt   LAL
12   .8  Georges Niang  Cle     12   .0  Mouhamed Gueye  Atl

Lakers have the best #2 player; middling at #3 and #4; and among the weakest from #5 on down.
No attempt has been made to edit regarding availability (Morant) or trade (Quickley).

[Crow]

I like this strafication. Haven't seen anything like this elsewhere.

Productivity is heavily based on role / opportunity.

Horford, best 5th man. Jaylen Brown as a 6th best guy. Irving as 5th worst #2, J Grant as 4th worst. Cunningham as worst performing #1 even after his run. Kuzma as the 5th worst #4. Avdija as 2nd worst #3.

Wembanyama as 3rd worst #2?

[Mike G]

Wembanyama as 3rd worst #2?

Yeah and Holmgren is 5th best @ #2. Are they closer than that 9.7 - 4.3 win disparity?

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xyzW  xyz82  rook   min   PER   WS/48   BPM     pW    WS    bW
3.90   9.7   Chet   984   21.4   .187   4.9    3.5   3.8   4.1
1.73   4.3   Wemby  879   19.6   .027   0.9    2.8    .5   2.2

ESPN's partly functional RPM list has it Holmgren 1.73 - 0.59 Wemby.
https://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/page/2

I've done similar breakdowns with sum-of-x-men, like top6 total, etc. But it's hard to display names that way.

[Crow]

According to BRef, average age is up .4 is at a 7 year high.

Avg height and weight are also up by one tick each, with height reaching 6 year high and weight going up second straight year after 7 years of decline.



Offensive rebounding up 3rd straight year, albeit from its near all-time low.

[Mike G]

Season concluded and a few league-wide historic highs and lows:

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Hi     2024   prev.   yr.      Low    2024   prev.   yr.
ORtg  115.3  114.8   2023      TO%    12.1   12.3   2022
eFG%   .547   .545   2023      PF/G   18.7   19.3   2021
FT%    .784   .782   2023      TO/G   13.6   13.8   2022
Ast/G  26.7   26.3   1985      FTA/G  21.7   21.7   2018
3fg/G  12.8   12.7   2021               

https://www.basketball-reference.com/le ... _game.html
Also 10-year highs in OReb/G and ORb%

Given the record high FT% with record low FTA, there were a record fewest missed FT/G:

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year    FT     FTA   FTx
2024   17.0   21.7   4.7
2014   17.8   23.6   5.8
2004   18.2   24.2   6.0
1994   19.6   26.6   7.0
1984   22.6   29.7   7.1
1972   23.3   31.2   7.9
1964   25.3   35.0   9.7
1953   25.7   35.9  10.2

The last time we saw this much scoring, it came with twice as many missed FT.

Historic player-avg-Age highs and lows; noting bumps and dips of >0.3

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year    age
1952    26.3
1955    26.7
1957    26.2
1958    26.8
1963    26.3
1969    26.9
1971    26.6
1974    26.9
1983    26.1
1999    27.9
2006    26.5
2008    26.8
2022    26.1
2024    26.4

The '2022' entry was at 26.1 for the last 4 seasons

[Mike G]

Playoff VORP as a fraction of career total (RS+PO) VORP.

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%po     VORP!        total    RS     PO
.27   Robert Horry    36.3   26.4    9.9
.25   Draymond Green  35.0   26.4    8.6
.22   Michael Cooper  24.4   19.1    5.3
.21   Rajon Rondo     29.6   23.2    6.4
.21  Tayshaun Prince  22.9   18.0    4.9
.21   Jayson Tatum    31.2   24.6    6.6
.21   Kawhi Leonard   60.9   48.4   12.6
.19   LeBron James   188.0  151.9   36.1
.19   Magic Johnson   98.3   80.0   18.3
.18   Kevin McHale    42.1   34.3    7.8
.18   Scottie Pippen  77.4   63.2   14.2
.18   James Worthy    35.7   29.2    6.5
.18   Dennis Johnson  29.7   24.3    5.4
.18   Manu Ginóbili   58.0   47.6   10.4
.18   Danny Green     24.6   20.2    4.4
.18   John Starks     20.0   16.5    3.5
.18   Michael Jordan 140.8  116.1   24.7
.17   Klay Thompson   20.4   16.8    3.5
.17   Horace Grant    39.9   33.0    6.9
.17   Elvin Hayes     25.9   21.4    4.4
.17   Tim Duncan     109.7   91.1   18.6
.17   Jerome Kersey   23.2   19.3    3.9
.17   Isiah Thomas    50.1   41.6    8.5
.17 Shaquille O'Neal  90.8   75.5   15.3
.17   Kobe Bryant     96.3   80.2   16.2
.17   Al Horford      51.5   42.9    8.6
.17   Larry Bird      92.6   77.2   15.4
.16   Dwyane Wade     75.1   62.8   12.3
.16 Anfernee Hardaway 32.2   26.9    5.3
.16 Chauncey Billups  52.0   43.6    8.5
.16   Jimmy Butler    56.3   47.5    8.8

https://www.basketball-reference.com/le ... eer_c.html
This is a 'stat' that usually peaks in early-mid career and then drops off later. Draymond, Kawhi, LeBron, Klay, Butler are all seeing fewer playoff games and/or losing strength in these games.
Horford is an exception.

[Crow]

15-25 years ago there were 30-35 players who weighed 260+ and almost 20 who weighed <180. Last season it was only 20
who weighed 260+ and almost 30 who weighed <180, while player counts increases by almost 40% due to changes in roster rules & practices.

Equalizing measures (previously generally cited in shoes to recent measurements without shoes) there appears to be apretty constant level of about 40-45 "7 footers" in the league.

In distant past, most 7 footers probably weighed 260+. Now most don't.

30 years ago, fewer than 30 NBA players were under 23 years old. That went to 55, 70, 80 and now almost 115.

The number 35 yrs old and older went from 70 to 45 to under 30. It may start to go back up.

[Mike G]

The number 35 yrs old and older went from 70 to 45 to under 30. It may start to go back up.

This is startling if true. When were there 70 players 35 and older?

In 1994 (30 yrs ago) there were 13.
In 1999, the oldest age-avg in the books, there were 39 -- 9% of all who appeared that year.
30 this last season, just over 5% of the total.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/le ... otals.html

Number and fraction of total for every 5th season:

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year    AgeAv    23-   35+    23-   24-34   35+
1954    26.4     26     1     .24    .75    .01
1959    26.4     20     0     .22    .78    .00
1964    26.4     28     1     .25    .74    .01
1969    26.9     45     3     .27    .71    .02
1974    26.9     55     5     .25    .73    .02

1979    26.3     87     2     .31    .68    .01
1984    26.4     75     8     .24    .73    .03
1989    26.9     73     5     .21    .78    .01
1994    27.2     78    13     .19    .77    .03
1999    27.9     98    39     .22    .69    .09

year    AgeAv    23-   35+    23-   24-34   35+
2004    27.0    115    30     .26    .67    .07
2009    26.6    127    14     .29    .68    .03
2014    26.5    132    26     .27    .67    .05
2019    26.3    181    14     .34    .63    .03
2024    26.4    187    30     .33    .62    .05

Oops. I did 23 and under, rather than under 23.
EDIT: the avg age column was in reverse order; now fixed.

[Crow]

Almost 70 in '99-00 "34" and older

https://www.eskimo.com/~pbender/bball/m ... 1-3-99.txt



I checked 35 and older in current time period...at craftednba.com. Date of age determination might be different than BRef but I don't immediately know for sure what it is but it is almost certainly at or near start of season. BRef used Feb. 1. Database comparisons can get unexpectedly tricky. Patricia appears to have used sometime in early November.

I should have adjusted my stopping point to 34. Really Patricia said greater than 33. I added one then I guess another in bouncing around between the pages.

The number 34 yrs old and older went from 27 to 34 in current time period, so it was still "around 30" and doesn't really change the comparison.

Your table does show a recent increase in 35+.

You had an issue with under 23. But now we know about both issues. The youth count is much larger going to 23 or less.

The trends are similar.

But either use my comparison adjusted to 34 OR your table but realize the differences between the two.


In sorting this out, I stumbled on this page https://craftednba.com/playoff-stats and noticed the DIF data in tiny print for "the difference between a players playoff stats and regular season stats for all listed stats (minutes adjusted)". To improve upon manual comparison.

[Crow]

Demographics over basketball stats but...

Projects that could be done by someone good at manipulating big data:

Find # of teams in career by position and / or role and average length of stays. Estimate impact at each team stage and of each team change (voluntary and not) on future earnings compared to peer average. From a value perspective which is better the long retained or the journeyman? It may depend... hence the call for study.

[Mike G]

I stumbled on this page https://craftednba.com/playoff-stats and noticed the DIF data in tiny print for "the difference between a players playoff stats and regular season stats for all listed stats (minutes adjusted)". To improve upon manual comparison.

I wonder what is the meaning of the numbers under the DIFF column header. Is it some unnamed composite of the other stats?
It's not the same between Traditional and Advanced stats.
And there's no tiny print DIFF for BPM.

[Crow]

I don't know on those points.

I asked.

If I get an answer, I'll let you know.