What would these legends average today?

[MyUniBroDavis]

Okay, at times i get annoyed at people who talk about the current nba and say "if so and so can average this, then obviously this person would average this"

for example (most of these are from the god awful insidehoops forum)

"If kevin love can average 13 rebounds, and he is 6ft 8, wilt would oviously average at least 23 rebounds"
"If westbrook can average a 30-9-10 for a month, jordan would obviously average 35-15-15"
"Wilt held kareem to 43% shooting in a series once (discounting the point that he was the only person who could actually block the skyhook, making this comparison moot)
"If lebron averaged 43 in the finals, jordan would average at least 70"

bwt im not a jordan hater. i think he is the goat obviously, like everyone else.

so what would these players average in their SCORING primes?

wilt
jordan
magic
russell
bird
kareem


imo

wilt = 28.7/15.7 5 blocks 58% shooting

Jordan 35 points

dont want to get hated on for the rest lol

[Swagalicious]

On a team they'd have to carry, scoring peakas you said..

Wilt 31/15/3, 4 blocks @ 54 TS%
Jordan 36/6/4, 2 steals and a block @ 55 TS%
Magic 22/7/11 @ 58 TS%
Russell 13/15/5, 4 blocks @ 55 TS%
Bird 29/8/8, 2 steals @ 57 TS%
Kareem 33/14/3, 3 blocks @ 58 TS%

[mischievous]

wilt- 28 14 4 56 ts%
jordan- 35 6 6 57 ts%
magic- 22 8 12 58 ts%
russell- 14 15 4 52 ts%
bird- 27 9 6 58 ts%
kareem- 29 13 4 59 ts%

Honestly, i'm just pulling numbers out of my ass here, thats really all you can do when guessing a player's stats across eras.

[Mazter]

Given they would play 39 minutes on a average NBA team in the past season I think they would average at the most:
PTS / TRB / AST / FG%
Wilt 25.5 / 12.8 / 5.4 / .595
Jordan 30.9 / 8.0 / 7.5 / .507
Magic 24.0 / 9.2 / 12.5 / .509
Kareem 23.9 / 14.1 / 4.7 / .604
Bird 25.0 / 10.6 / 7.1 / .498
Russell 10.0 / 13.3 / 4.3 / .467
LeBron 32.0 / 9.2 / 8.7 / .571
Shaq 32.1 / 14.1 / 3.7 / .609
Rodman 15.0 / 19.7 / 3.5 / .521
Basically I made some simple calculations based on team or league average and/or pace. I also have taken into consideration the position the 3-point shot has in today's game. Also that the player coming into the league would just be a great talent and not a legendary name. I put Lebron's name also there because even during his career the 3-point attempt has gone up and just to know how his stats could be on a team with average stats and pace.

And just so you know, I used the same method for each player, it is not a knock on any player.

Edit: I added Shaq and Rodman to the bunch

[Joao Saraiva]

Everyone post 1980 - about the same.

Guys from the 60s, 70s adjust per 100 more or less.

[ThaRegul8r]

Given they would play 39 minutes on a average NBA team in the past season I think they would average at the most:
PTS / TRB / AST / FG%
Wilt 25.5 / 12.8 / 5.4 / .595
Jordan 30.9 / 8.0 / 7.5 / .507
Magic 24.0 / 9.2 / 12.5 / .509
Kareem 23.9 / 14.1 / 4.7 / .604
Bird 25.0 / 10.6 / 7.1 / .498
Russell 10.0 / 13.3 / 4.3 / .467
LeBron 32.0 / 9.2 / 8.7 / .571
Basically I made some simple calculations based on team or league average and/or pace. I also have taken into consideration the position the 3-point shot has in today's game. Also that the player coming into the league would just be a great talent and not a legendary name. I put Lebron's name also there because even during his career the 3-point attempt has gone up and just to know how his stats could be on a team with average stats and pace.

And just so you know, I used the same method for each player, it is not a knock on any player.

How does Kareem come out with a higher rebound-per-game average than both Wilt and Russell despite being an inferior rebounder?

[Mazter]

How does Kareem come out with a higher rebound-per-game average than both Wilt and Russell despite being an inferior rebounder?

Because Kareem probably grabbed a higher percentage of his team's rebound...

[Jaivl]

How does Kareem come out with a higher rebound-per-game average than both Wilt and Russell despite being an inferior rebounder?

Because Kareem probably grabbed a higher percentage of his team's rebound...

But he didn't.

[ThaRegul8r]

How does Kareem come out with a higher rebound-per-game average than both Wilt and Russell despite being an inferior rebounder?

Because Kareem probably grabbed a higher percentage of his team's rebound...

Ah. "Probably" indicates a lack of certainty.

Wilt and Kareem overlapped for a time, and this is what is known for certain:

Code: Select all

Year      Wilt   Kareem
1970-71: 18.4   18.9
1971-72: 20.1   18.1
1972-73: 19.6   18.2

Wilt at the very end of his career was grabbing a higher percentage of available rebounds than Kareem, which is why I was confused as to what mathematical process could possibly have Kareem grabbing more rebounds per game than Wilt did, despite not being as good a rebounder.

[Mazter]

Wilt at the very end of his career was grabbing a higher percentage of available rebounds than Kareem, which is why I was confused as to what mathematical process could possibly have Kareem grabbing more rebounds per game than Wilt did, despite not being as good a rebounder.

Unfortunately I used 1976 as Kareem's best rebounding year and 1961 as Wilt's.

Btw, lighten up, it is just the result of a system and a formula. Don't let it shatter your illusion.

[ThaRegul8r]

Wilt at the very end of his career was grabbing a higher percentage of available rebounds than Kareem, which is why I was confused as to what mathematical process could possibly have Kareem grabbing more rebounds per game than Wilt did, despite not being as good a rebounder.

Well, Wilt's team did average 7.0 more rebound opportunities per game over that 3 year period. And unfortunately I used 1976 as Kareem's best rebounding year.

From the first sentence, evidently you're unaware that TRB% controls for pace. How many rebounding opportunities one player had compared to another is irrelevant to TRB%, as it's percentage of available rebounds during the time the player is on the floor. A guy who grabs 15 of 75 available rebounds rebounds at the exact same rate as someone who grabs 20 of 100. The fact that the latter player had 25 more rebound opportunities has no effect whatsoever on their TRB%.

Btw, lighten up, it is just the result of a formula. Don't let it shatter your illusion.

I was unaware that facts were "illusory." My mistake.

It's not particularly important to me anyway. I merely wondered how a player came out with a higher rebound per game average than two superior rebounders, and I received my answer. That's the end of the matter for me.

[Mazter]

From the first sentence, evidently you're unaware that TRB% controls for pace.

Well, I already edited my post, not fast enough I see. It would have helped if you had mentioned that you used TRB% in the first place, but my bad.

And calling someone an inferior rebounder based on stats while not playing in their peak at the same time, I call that an illusion, not a fact.

[JoeMalburg]

A different approach, not what they would average adjusted for pace, but what I think they'd produce in terms of equal impact relative to era. (I'll use a peak version of each in the same role)

Wilt - 24/16/6/2/5 on .665 TS% - 2nd team All-Defense

Jordan - 35/6/6/2/1 on .577 TS% - First team All-Defense

Magic - 18/8/12/2 on .590 TS% - 50% FG 35% 3PT 88% FT

Russell - 15/16/4/3/5 on .535 TS% - Defensive Player of the Year

Bird - 27/10/7/2/1 on .631 TS% 50% FG 40% 3PT 90% FT

Kareem - 33/11/3/1/3 on .580 TS% 55% FG 72% FT