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What NBA player, past or present, had stats that surprised you either positively or negatively when you when you looked them up? (alien.top)

submitted 1 year ago by IllmaticGOAT@alien.top to c/nba@nba.space

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For example I looked up Kenyon Martin today. I remember him being an all-star so I figured he must have had multiple 20/10 seasons. Turns out he never averaged more than 17 ppg and only got 10 rpg one season.

Muggsy Bogues surprised me positively. I thought he was just a role player like Early Boykins. Turns out he had several seasons averaging over 8 apg and a couple seasons averaging over 10 apg.

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[–] Charlie_Wax@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (4 children)

You never hear much talk about Nate Thurmond, but he averaged 20.5 ppg and 22.0 rpg in his best season, with several other seasons in similar territory. I found that pretty crazy. On paper he should be a candidate for all-time starting 5 considerations, probably in the PF spot since it's the thinner spot compared to C. On paper he was Rodman with 20 ppg scoring, which would be the best 4 ever.

On the other hand, it looks like rebounding stats were inflated across the board back then when you consider what Russell and Wilt were also doing in the 60s.

[–] AnyJamesBookerFans@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Interestingly, he never made an All NBA Team, even though he finished second in MVP voting in one year.

Making All NBA as a center back then was tough, with just two teams and guys like Wilt and Russell always taking a spot or two.

[–] throwawaynewc@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Sounds like the guy was almost as good as Paulo Banchero's rookie season?

[–] OlGreggg@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

You need to go google Tim Duncan

[–] BetweenTheBuzzAndMe@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

you can't really compare 60s stats to 90s stats. there were ridiculous amounts of missed shots, high pace, and very defined roles compared to today, so tons of rebounds for the taking for big men. Also on average, played north of 40mpg, and even 45mpg at his peak.

Thurmond averaged 22rpg in 1967-68, grabbing 1121 shots in 2222 minutes (across 51 games). The big difference is the San Francisco Warriors played at a pace of 123.6 possessions per 48 minutes, while the league average last season was 99.1, meaning nearly 25% more possessions.

If he played the exact same amount of minutes at a league average pace today, you'd be looking at about 900 rebounds in 51 games, or about 14.6 rebounds per 36 minutes, roughly the 5th highest rebounds per 36 minutes in the NBA, below Drummond (18.8), Adams (15.4), Capela (14.9), and Valanciunas (14.7), among those who played at least half of last season.

It's also unknown how many of those are offensive rebounds and many could be tips off his own misses, which would explain a rather low FG%, even for that era.

Since you referenced to Rodman, who played massive minutes but in an era where pace was in the low 90s rather than 120+, his rebounds per minute and per possession absolutely clear Thurmond by several points throughout his prime.