CJ McCollum weird factoid

[GeorgeMarcus]

Still plenty of season to go but as it stands, McCollum is averaging over 20ppg for the 10th consecutive season. That's an accomplishment many (most?) HoF players can't claim yet here's 0 time All Star CJ McCollum wiping his shoes at the welcome mat.

But wait, there's more. McCollum has so far accomplished this feat without once being the leading scorer on his own team. He averaged more than Ingram in his 26-game stint with the Pels in 21-22 but ultimately less using season averages as the barometer.

I haven't done a lick of additional research but I'd wager CJ is one of a kind in both categories. I really doubt any other 0-time All Stars averaged 20+ in 10 different seasons, let alone consecutively. I'm even more confident about 10 seasons of 20+ without leading the team. Not sure people will fully appreciate the improbability of this scenario, but at least 1 high school stat teacher was thrown for a loop.

Edit:
Players with 10+ seasons of 20+ppg (and # of AS appearances)

Spoiler:

LeBron - 22 (20x AS)

Durant - 17 (14x AS)
K Malone - 17 (14x AS)
Kareem - 17 (19x AS)

Kobe - 15 (18x AS)
MJ - 15 (14x AS)

Melo - 14 (10x AS)
Shaq - 14 (15x AS)

Curry - 13 (10x AS)
Dirk - 13 (14x AS)
Olajuwon - 13 (12x AS)
West - 13 (14x AS)

AD - 12 (9x AS)
DeRozan - 12 (6x AS)
Lillard - 12 (8x AS)
Harden - 12 (10x AS)
Kyrie - 12 (8x AS)
Iverson - 12 (11x AS)
Ewing - 12 (11x AS)
Wilt - 12 (13x AS)

Westbrook - 11 (9x AS)
Barkley - 11 (11x AS)
Wilkins - 11 (9x AS)
Bird - 11 (12x AS)
Moses - 11 (13x AS)
King - 11 (4x AS)
Dantley - 11 (6x AS)
Baylor - 11 (11x AS)
Pettit - 11 (11x AS)

PG - 10 (9x AS)
Wade - 10 (13x AS)
Vince - 10 (8x AS)
Richmond - 10 (6x AS)
Hayes - 10 (12x AS)
Robertson - 10 (12x AS)
McCollum - 10 (0x AS)

[JRoy]

That’s pretty wild.

[zimpy27]

My guess is one of Baylor or West did it, depending on who you thought was second fiddle.

[zimpy27]

Interestingly McCollum is on league average TS% for his career.

I guess you hope he's taking shots at end of shot clock or if offense breaks down. His best role would be to score so that others can be on court and impact defense I guess.

[Sofia]

I usually forget CJ McCollum still plays until Jugs drafts him 70th in the OTB fantasy league every year

[pipfan]

Crazy stat-he is the biggest "almost All Star" of this era, by far

[Effigy]

Crazy stat-he is the biggest "almost All Star" of this era, by far

Jamal Murray probably has a better case.

[SomeBunghole]

McCollum is a strange player. He's a very good, consistent scorer, but he's not a great scorer. He's a below-average defender and he doesn't really do much else than score, but he's very good at that. He's always reminded me of a more consistent Byron Scott with a much longer prime. It's probably a toss up between him and Scott for the best player to never make the ASG.

And since we're talking about strange factoids, Scott led the Lakers in scoring one of the years they won the title and of course, wasn't picked for the ASG since he was never picked for an ASG. It sounds crazy and I feel like it has to be the only time the guy who led that year's champs in scoring and wasn't hurt didn't make the ASG.

[GeorgeMarcus]

My guess is one of Baylor or West did it, depending on who you thought was second fiddle.

I wasn't super clear in the OP but that would mean either West or Baylor would have to be 2nd fiddle for 10 consecutive seasons, while also averaging 20+

Not consecutive idk why I said that, just 10 seasons. I think I understand our disconnect though- I was thinking for all of the player's 20ppg seasons. The idea that CJ, despite 10+ seasons of 20+ ppg, never led his team in scoring nor made an All Star game. That's why I ruled out Baylor/West

[Chuck Everett]

McCollum playing in the West is the reason he never made the all-star team. Shame, because some of those years, he was good enough, but West has had so much star power in the backcourt, there were some years, he was never going to make it.

[zimpy27]

My guess is one of Baylor or West did it, depending on who you thought was second fiddle.

I wasn't super clear in the OP but that would mean either West or Baylor would have to be 2nd fiddle for 10 consecutive seasons, while also averaging 20+

Not consecutive idk why I said that, just 10 seasons. I think I understand our disconnect though- I was thinking for all of the player's 20ppg seasons. The idea that CJ, despite 10 + seasons of 20+ ppg, never led his team in scoring nor made an All Star game. That's why I ruled out Baylor/West

Yeah he's certainly an unusual player.

Effectively he scores at league average efficiency his entire career. He's not a star player, he's kind of like a guard version of Tobias Harris. And yeah he scores on average at above the round number of 20, it's certainly cool to see his consistency.

[Dzon Dilindzer]

it was insufferable to watch him play for my trail blazers all those years

i cannot emphasize enough how much i detest players like cj mccollum, although i like him as a person, seems like a really nice guy

[Pelly24]

CJ is kind of an underrated No. 2 option and overachieving one to be honest. Has had huge huge moments in the playoffs, can get wherever he wants in the midrange to score, where he can shoot like 50%. Crafty af. Just never been on a true contender in his ideal role as like a solid third option. I'd love for him to have been with Jokic

[Pelly24]

I wasn't super clear in the OP but that would mean either West or Baylor would have to be 2nd fiddle for 10 consecutive seasons, while also averaging 20+

Not consecutive idk why I said that, just 10 seasons. I think I understand our disconnect though- I was thinking for all of the player's 20ppg seasons. The idea that CJ, despite 10 + seasons of 20+ ppg, never led his team in scoring nor made an All Star game. That's why I ruled out Baylor/West

Yeah he's certainly an unusual player.

Effectively he scores at league average efficiency his entire career. He's not a star player, he's kind of like a guard version of Tobias Harris. And yeah he scores on average at above the round number of 20, it's certainly cool to see his consistency.

See but here's the thing: CJ actually showed up in the playoffs. 2019 against the nuggets to reach the WCF. He's dropped 40 balls on the warriors, 30-somethings in other big games against great teams. He's not some incredible player, but you can reasonably expect him to replicate his regular season production in the postseason. And because of his midrange speciality, even if he's at 54 or 53 TS% for a given series, those self-created buckets become a big deal in big moments where you're stuck in the mud. Low turnovers against tight defense. I think the real issue is that he's more like a really good third option for a contender rather than a No. 2. He's a bit overtaxed in that role. But a very useful player.

[Jon1798]

CJ is awesome, and I never understand why he doesn’t get the respect he deserves for it. He carried the Pels through last season. Was arguably the best three point shooter in the league. No one shot more threes at a higher percent. Nearly right at 40% career three point average over a ten year career. Will be real curious to see if he makes his way to a contender.

[The Servant]

20 ppg in the 2010s - 2020s is like 16ppg in the previous eras.

Career 45% shooter but with an impressive career 40% from deep, good for a career average of 55% TS.

20ppg on league average true shooting. This guy could never make the hall but he is an anomaly in terms of consistent production.

[The Servant]

This thread has restored my faith in the GB.

Now the next thing for this board to realize is that Brandon Roy's statistical production was pretty much the same tier as CJ McCollum's.

[Deivork]

CJ is kind of an underrated No. 2 option and overachieving one to be honest. Has had huge huge moments in the playoffs, can get wherever he wants in the midrange to score, where he can shoot like 50%. Crafty af. Just never been on a true contender in his ideal role as like a solid third option. I'd love for him to have been with Jokic

Nice. Could the Nuggets get CJ? Would be cool to see try.

[SomeBunghole]

McCollum is also lucky in that he never fell victim to what is known as the Peter principle. This is a management principle that says that competent employees will keep getting promoted until they reach a position that requires skills they do not have, at which point they will actually be incompetent at that new position.

We see this in the NBA all the time. If you're a really good number 2 option, someone will eventually throw money at you and make you a number one option, at which point you will struggle because you're not a number one option, and it derails your career. This can also happen with number 3 options being promoted to number 2, role players being promoted to star, etc.

Great examples of this are guys like Austin Reaves, Jerami Grant, Zach LaVine, and pretty much every role player on that Heat team that went to the Finals a couple of years ago. CJ McCollum has been lucky that for whatever reason, he's avoided this pitfall. You'd have thought that over the past decade, a team like Charlotte or Washington would've thrown money at him and just given him the keys to the team, which would've lead to inevitable tragedy. It hasn't happened, and he's continuing to thrive in a smaller role he's actually competent in.

[Pattycakes]

As a Blazers fan, I’m totally torn how I feel about CJ. He has my respect as a man, but as a fan it’s a bit different. He was one of the central parts of a pretty terrible offensive plan for quite a few years here, and didn’t offer much of anything outside of that. Always disappointed when it mattered the most. Cool shot maker tho, but man. Watching cj and dame night in and night out with never much more going on. Christ have mercy