Chris Paul v. Kevin Johson

[Straightwitdaroc]

Who's better?

[NO-KG-AI]

I think Chris Paul this year was better than any of KJ's years.

I'd be interested to see Paul's numbers if you swap David West with Charles Barkley.

[Straightwitdaroc]

I think Chris Paul this year was better than any of KJ's years.

I'd be interested to see Paul's numbers if you swap David West with Charles Barkley.

Yeah because Charles was on the team when KJ posted his best season in 88-89.

[NO-KG-AI]

Look JohnGalt, if you want everyone to come in and agree with you, you can just put "Chris Paul isn't as good as Kevin Johnson, don't post unless you agree."

It's debatable whether that is even his best season, it was his highest APG, but it was also his highest minutes and turnovers(4.0), and his lowest 3pt % by a lot (9%).

Before you get all defensive, I didn't even say Charles would make someone's stats better, I said I would be interested to see it. :-/

[Relentless88]

Chris Paul will be better.

[NO-KG-AI]

Well, here are a few interesting advanced statistics:

Chris Paul's PER this year was 28.3, the highest ever for a PG. (37th all time)

Kevin Johnson's career high was 23.7 in 1990-1991.


Paul's offensive rating this year was 125, defensive rating of 103(lower is better)

Kevin Johnson's highest offensive rating of his career was 124 in 1996-1997.

KJ's best defensive rating was 106, where he played 26 MPG, over 50 games.


Chris Paul posted 35.5 offensive win shares this year, and 14.3 defensive win shares, and lead the league in total win shares.

KJ's career best for offensive win shares was 26.4 in 1990-1991, and his career best defensive win shares was 10.1 in 1988-1989.



So yea, I'd say Chris Paul this year was better than KJ ever was, and I don't see any reason he won't get better, or at the very least remain at similar production.

[Baller 24]

This is a damn good comparison, Kevin Johnson is one of only 3 PGs? to average 20, 10, 50%+ I'm taking this from on top of my head. But anyways I'd still take Paul, he is only likely to get better, and has potential to be one of the best PGs of all time. Now the thing that hits me about Paul is that he is a great pocket picker, but when he was on the floor this year, the Hornets gave up on averaged 6ppg, but when he was off the court they wouldn't give up as much. In that category Paul ranked in the top only Andre Miller gave up more points when on the court.

[Wizenheimer]

if Kevin Johnson had not been injury prone and played in today's game with the no-hand-checking rules, he would have been amazing and this comparison would have been premature. Paul was good his 2nd season, but that wouldn't have compared well to KJ. Paul was great last year, but so far that has only been for one season. KJ, even with his injuries was at a high level for a number of seasons; paul just one.

Ultimately, the fact that paul will likely get better and remain at that level for a number of years will give him the edge, especially considering that KJ couldn't stay healthy.

[NO-KG-AI]

Well David West was the only starter on the good side of defensive on/off, but we were still a top 10 defensive team. Playing next to Pargo for a chunk of minutes probably won't help a lot either since they took turns checking the SG a lot of times.

[NO-KG-AI]

Also, Phoenix always played at a torrid pace, they were near the top of the league just about every year during those years, and the Hornets were bottom 5 this year.

[TMACFORMVP]

I love KJ, he's probably my most favorite PG of all time. Terrific passer, crazy good off the dribble and a very efficient rather high volume scorer.

Wiki:

# Johnson is one of only three players in NBA history (Isiah Thomas and Magic Johnson are the others) to average at least 20.0 points and 12.0 assists in a season.

# Johnson is one of only three players in NBA history (Oscar Robertson and Isiah Thomas are the others) to have averaged at least 20.0 points and 10.0 assists in three consecutive seasons.

# Johnson is one of only four players in NBA history to have averaged at least 20.0 points and 10.0 assists per game in three different seasons.

# Johnson is one of four players to have averaged at least 15.0 points and 10.0 assists per game over the course of a season while shooting at least .500 from the field.

# Johnson is one of only two players (the other is Magic Johnson) to have averaged at least 20.0 points and 10.0 assists per game over the course of a season while shooting at least .500 from the field.

# Johnson is the only player in NBA history to have averaged at least 20.0 points, 10.0 assists, a .500 field goal percentage, and 2.0 steals in a season (in '90-'91).

He'd be right up there with all the greats had he not had the injury problems and sustained a longer peak. The guy was just nasty, literally CP3 before CP3. Saying all this, I think the season Paul just had was just as good as KJ's best if not better factoring in pace and defense. I also think he's more a clear cut #1 guy and should only get better so by the time he's finished, I definitely expect him to pass up KJ career wise.

[shawngoat23]

I'll take Chris Paul's best season over Kevin Johnson's, and his potential is certainly really high. That said, although he might likely surpass KJ's career achievements, he is no lock either.

I don't think the difference between Paul and KJ is as large as the PER would indicate though.

[kooldude]

Chris Paul is better. almost every statistical data say Paul is better than KJ's prime.

[kooldude]

I'll take Chris Paul's best season over Kevin Johnson's, and his potential is certainly really high. That said, although he might likely surpass KJ's career achievements, he is no lock either.

I don't think the difference between Paul and KJ is as large as the PER would indicate though.

I think it is. KJ's best seasons were all when his team was near the top in pace. Paul's team is near the bottom. In a comparison, KJ's numbers are inflated and Paul's are still better.