NBA HISTORY: STATISTICS ABOUT THE MOST EFFICIENT SCORERS IN THE REGULAR SEASON.
Most impressive records in NBA history about efficient scorers in
the regular season.
This is the second part of a series of articles about historical records on the major statistics in NBA history (points, assists, rebounds…) while looking at which current player could eventually challenge these records along his career.
This is the second part of a series of articles about historical records on the major statistics in NBA history (points, assists, rebounds…) while looking at which current player could eventually challenge these records along his career.
The first article was about
points (see the article: NBA HISTORY: STATISTICS ABOUT POINTS IN REGULAR SEASON.). We saw that one of the two best current players in
the game today, Kevin Durant (Lebron James being the other), could challenge some records in points over his
career.
We will see today that he is also
in a position to make history in term of efficiency in scoring.
A. RECORDS IN SCORING EFFICIENCY.
I looked at players that reached
the “magic trio” of at least 50% in 2 points field goal %, 40% in 3 points field
goal % and 90% in free throw field goal % over the regular season (with a
minimum of 62 games, or 75% of a season, and 24 minutes played per game).
Only 11 players reached this
benchmark in NBA history. Two players lead this statistic with Steve Nash (4
years) and Jose Calderon (3 years). The first player to reach this threshold
was Larry Bird in 1987. The most recent players who achieved it were Kevin
Durant and Jose Calderon last year (see table (b) below for the details per
year).
Furthermore, no players from 1947
to 1979 reached this benchmark if we remove the 3-Point Field Goal Percentage
(available only since the 1979-80 season in the NBA).
Overall, this short list delivers
some illustrious names of great shooters like Larry Bird, Chris Mullin, Reggie Miller, Ray
Allen, Dirk Nowitzki, Steve Nash and Kevin Durant.
a. For single seasons; in the regular season; from
1946-47 to 2013-14; requiring 2-PT Field Goal Pct >= 0.5 and 3-Pt Field Goal
Pct >= 0.4 and Free Throw Pct >= 0.9 and Games >= 62; sorted by most
seasons matching criteria.
Rk
|
Player
|
From
|
To
|
Count ▾
|
1
|
2006
|
2010
|
4
|
|
2
|
2008
|
2013
|
3
|
|
3
|
1989
|
1993
|
2
|
|
4
|
1987
|
1988
|
2
|
|
5
|
Kevin Durant
|
2013
|
2013
|
1
|
6
|
2009
|
2009
|
1
|
|
7
|
2007
|
2007
|
1
|
|
8
|
2004
|
2004
|
1
|
|
9
|
2002
|
2002
|
1
|
|
10
|
1998
|
1998
|
1
|
|
11
|
1994
|
1994
|
1
|
b. For single seasons; in the regular season; from
1946-47 to 2013-14; requiring 2-PT Field Goal Pct >= 0.5 and 3-Pt Field Goal
Pct >= 0.4 and Free Throw Pct >= 0.9 and Games >= 62; sorted by
descending Season.
Totals
|
Per Game
|
Shooting
|
||||||||
Rk
|
Player
|
Season
|
Age
|
G
|
MP
|
PTS
|
FG%
|
2P%
|
3P%
|
FT%
|
1
|
2012-13
|
31
|
73
|
29.6
|
11.3
|
.491
|
.516
|
.461
|
.900
|
|
2
|
2012-13
|
24
|
81
|
38.5
|
28.1
|
.510
|
.539
|
.416
|
.905
|
|
3
|
2009-10
|
35
|
81
|
32.8
|
16.5
|
.507
|
.540
|
.426
|
.938
|
|
4
|
2008-09
|
33
|
79
|
36.4
|
18.2
|
.480
|
.542
|
.409
|
.952
|
|
5
|
2008-09
|
27
|
68
|
34.3
|
12.8
|
.497
|
.538
|
.406
|
.981
|
|
6
|
2008-09
|
34
|
74
|
33.6
|
15.7
|
.503
|
.529
|
.439
|
.933
|
|
8
|
2007-08
|
26
|
82
|
30.3
|
11.2
|
.519
|
.551
|
.429
|
.908
|
|
9
|
2007-08
|
33
|
81
|
34.3
|
16.9
|
.504
|
.527
|
.470
|
.906
|
|
10
|
2006-07
|
28
|
78
|
36.2
|
24.6
|
.502
|
.515
|
.416
|
.904
|
|
11
|
2005-06
|
31
|
79
|
35.4
|
18.8
|
.512
|
.548
|
.439
|
.921
|
|
12
|
2003-04
|
26
|
81
|
40.3
|
24.2
|
.480
|
.511
|
.433
|
.927
|
|
13
|
2001-02
|
32
|
82
|
24.2
|
9.0
|
.489
|
.508
|
.469
|
.931
|
|
15
|
1997-98
|
34
|
82
|
26.5
|
11.3
|
.481
|
.503
|
.440
|
.939
|
|
16
|
1993-94
|
28
|
79
|
33.4
|
19.9
|
.503
|
.535
|
.421
|
.908
|
|
17
|
1992-93
|
28
|
75
|
31.7
|
18.2
|
.484
|
.512
|
.416
|
.948
|
|
18
|
1988-89
|
24
|
75
|
36.4
|
18.9
|
.526
|
.548
|
.441
|
.901
|
|
19
|
1987-88
|
31
|
76
|
39.0
|
29.9
|
.527
|
.546
|
.414
|
.916
|
|
20
|
1986-87
|
30
|
74
|
40.6
|
28.1
|
.525
|
.547
|
.400
|
.910
|
B. CURRENT SEASON 2013/2014.
Currently, no player is in
position to reach this threshold during the season 2013/14. However, here is
the list of the 10 players that come the closest to the “magic trio”.
Again, Kevin Durant is in the short list, missing my benchmark only because of his FT%.
Totals
|
Per Game
|
Shooting
|
||||||||
Rk
|
Player
|
Season
|
Age
|
G
|
MP
|
PTS
|
FG%
|
2P%
|
3P%
|
FT%
|
1
|
2013-14
|
38
|
63
|
26.5
|
9.7
|
.448
|
.540
|
.372
|
.914
|
|
2
|
2013-14
|
25
|
22
|
36.1
|
19.8
|
.438
|
.463
|
.409
|
.952
|
|
3
|
2013-14
|
33
|
61
|
30.4
|
18.7
|
.421
|
.462
|
.368
|
.862
|
|
4
|
2013-14
|
25
|
67
|
36.4
|
23.5
|
.464
|
.504
|
.415
|
.878
|
|
5
|
2013-14
|
25
|
68
|
38.6
|
32.2
|
.507
|
.546
|
.409
|
.868
|
|
6
|
2013-14
|
23
|
69
|
35.9
|
22.0
|
.431
|
.472
|
.363
|
.874
|
|
7
|
2013-14
|
32
|
62
|
34.1
|
12.3
|
.486
|
.487
|
.486
|
.939
|
|
8
|
2013-14
|
28
|
65
|
24.4
|
9.9
|
.486
|
.541
|
.364
|
.882
|
|
9
|
2013-14
|
35
|
68
|
32.2
|
21.5
|
.492
|
.525
|
.395
|
.914
|
|
10
|
2013-14
|
29
|
30
|
28.8
|
15.7
|
.459
|
.510
|
.396
|
.914
|
Source: www.basketball-reference.com.
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