The most blatant example of "Statpadding" in NBA history

[Goudelock]

https://www.sportscasting.com/5-of-the-worst-triple-double-attempts-in-nba-history-2/

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Now THIS is statpadding at its finest. I've never seen this clip before this, but this looks almost as bad as the Rickey Davis triple double.

And it seems like a lot of people just want to crap on their least favorite superstar for putting up points in the last few minutes of a game. I'd say that's a little different than throwing up transition 3s with 10 seconds left and firing full-court passes with three seconds left, and then coming back down the court to get one more shot up as the buzzer expires.

[NBAFan93]

Watch on YouTube

how Rondo plays all the time

Came here to mention Rondo. I like him as a player but he's also one of the very few players I'd actually call a Stat padder. He's obsessed with his assist numbers and will pass out of a 1 on 0 fastbreak to get another assist.

If he were a bigger star, he’d get called out for it a lot more I’m sure. He does stat pad assists, but he is a great playmaker when he needs/wants to be.

Thé comment that he plays like that Russ clip all the time made really LOL though. He does do stuff along those lines quite a bit.

[Alatan]

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

[freethedevil]

MICHAEL JORDAN IN 1988-89.
(related: Michael Jordan’s assists in the 1991 Finals)

1988-89 is the year Jordan averaged 8 assists and 8 rebounds. It was also the year Jordan famously put up 7 consecutive triple doubles.

When you look at his career averages his 32.5/8.0/8.0 from 1988-89 stands out.

A legendary season (long used as an example of how Kobe doesn’t stack up to MJ, and also why Jordan and LeBron are more similar than you think).

But the full reason for why Jordan's 1988-89 season was so different than his others is rarely talked about beyond the fact that Collins moved Jordan to point guard.



Jordan started stat padding in 1988-89 because he was trying to put up more triple doubles than Magic Johnson.

Some backgroud: In the previous two seasons Jordan averaged 37.1 points and 35.0 points and had acquired the ball-hog label and was criticized for having a selfish/losing approach, in contrast to Magic Johnson, who was a triple-double machine, usually the league leader in triple-doubles, and the dictionary definition of a winner.

So Jordan was playing point and getting assists and he started to get a few triple doubles. He realized that he could get a lot more triple doubles and perhaps even more than Magic Johnson.

Jordan started going over to the official scorer during games to see how many more assists and rebounds he needed to get another triple double.

This only stopped after the league got wind and ordered official scorers to refrain from giving out stats during the game.

Jordan started keeping track in his head.

In the end, Jordan lost the triple double battle with Johnson - 17 to 15.

But Jordan wasn’t done with trying to out-Magic Magic.



Enter the 1991 NBA Finals.

Ever wonder why Jordan put up so many assists in the 1991 Finals?



It was because the dude on the other side was Magic Johnson.



Blatant examples of stat padding by Jordan tied to a rivalry with Magic.

Just stop.

So is that story a falsehood?

Why precisely should he stop.

you're just like people who say lebron couldn't

Well he isn't, because those people are using a hypothetical. The post above is not a hypothetical. So either he's lying, or you saying "just stop" is some soft-ass bull.

[freethedevil]

I don't think you know what stat padding means.

If a player comes up with an individual statistical goal and goes after it regardless of whether it's best for the team, that's stat padding.

For Jordan in 1988-89, for example, if the best play is a hockey assist, Jordan may eschew that in favor of a direct assist in order to help towards his individual statistical goal. That's stat padding.

"you're biased

I would expect better from a mod :/

STRIKE - To explain what this user did wrong: He quoted chitwonsports4ever and then replaced that users's text with some text of his own, and then added in some mod bashing just to make sure he's firmly violating rules as much as possible.
- jamaalstar 21

[the_flash__]

Russell Westbrook.

During his triple double MVP season there was analysis done by someone that looked at game time between assists for WB. The first 10 had very short amount of time between assists but after getting 10 the time between assists got a lot longer.

This doesn't qualify for the "blatant" part of this thread but still funny. This is one of the leading arguments for me as to why that MVP award was trash.

[bondom34]

And it seems like a lot of people just want to crap on their least favorite superstar for putting up points in the last few minutes of a game. I'd say that's a little different than throwing up transition 3s with 10 seconds left and firing full-court passes with three seconds left, and then coming back down the court to get one more shot up as the buzzer expires.

Yeah mostly this. Every player will pad stats to an extent, because guys are still paid in part off a box score that has these things. But the "miss a layup to grab your own rebound with 10 seconds left" is the real stat padding.

Spoiler:

Oh and again if we're doing the stupid 2017 MVP thing, the vote was a landslide and a bunch of voters said they didn't vote because of the slash line. To add, well his advanced numbers were similar to better (RPM) and the clutch play was crazy.

[In2ition]

That Devin Booker 70 point game has to qualify. The whole game was garbage time (Celtics were up 25-5 a few minutes in and never looked back). Then the Suns kept fouling and calling timeout in the 4th quarter so the clock would stop and Booker would have time to get more shots up. Then the whole team celebrated their regular season loss like they won the title.

Was it the entire 4th quarter or just in the last 1:30 left while being down by only 10 pts?
Many teams have come back from that in less time. I guess many Celtic fans feel like the Suns should have just given up while being down 25-5, and are insulted that they didn't conceed at that point.
There is some context that's missing when bringing this game up all the time. Did you see the players that were dressed out for this game by the Suns? You've mentioned that they started off so bad, but do you speak about how badly everyone started except for Booker? He didn't even start taking over until it was clear that the rest of the GLeague squad wasn't going to offer even a little bit of help. Check out the fg% of the rest of the team. The only reason they didn't lose by 60 pts is because of Booker. It was certainly trending that way. Boston did everything they could to try to stop him, as they didn't have to worry about anyone else. If he had even a little bit of help they would have won the game.

[dmakk]

I'm surprised nobody mentioned David Robinson. It was the most blatant and most petty IMO. The Undefeated wrote an article about it a few years ago. He scored 71 points in the Spurs season finale against the Clippers, specifically to win the scoring title over Shaq. He played 44 minutes, he was shooting through double and triple-teams, his teammates were fouling the Clippers to get back on offense quicker, and 7 points came in the last 2 minutes.

Watch on YouTube

https://theundefeated.com/features/david-robinson-1994-scoring-title-shaq/

[Wallace_Wallace]

NO SPORTSMANSHIP FOR THE HALL OF FAME CPU!!!

[Wallace_Wallace]

Acting offended because someone plays on is to me the most ridiculous thing in the NBA today, and that's saying something. My goodness, defend, get scored or stfu

Disrespectful is when someone is making faces, poking fun of the other team on purpose. If a team is running actual plays resulting in a basket, then it's fine. There are guys on 10 day contracts that need to fight everyday in practice and every minute they play on the court.

[anatomicbomb]

MICHAEL JORDAN IN 1988-89.
(related: Michael Jordan’s assists in the 1991 Finals)

1988-89 is the year Jordan averaged 8 assists and 8 rebounds. It was also the year Jordan famously put up 7 consecutive triple doubles.

When you look at his season averages his 32.5/8.0/8.0 from 1988-89 stands out.

A legendary season (long used as an example of how Kobe doesn’t stack up to MJ, and also why Jordan and LeBron are more similar than you think).

But the full reason for why Jordan's 1988-89 season was so different than his others is rarely talked about beyond the fact that Collins moved Jordan to point guard.



Jordan started stat padding in 1988-89 because he was trying to put up more triple doubles than Magic Johnson.

Some backgroud: In the previous two seasons Jordan averaged 37.1 points and 35.0 points and had acquired the ball-hog label and was criticized for having a selfish/losing approach, in contrast to Magic Johnson, who was a triple-double machine, usually the league leader in triple-doubles, and the dictionary definition of a winner.

So Jordan was playing point and getting assists and he started to get a few triple doubles. He realized that he could get a lot more triple doubles and perhaps even more than Magic Johnson.

Jordan started going over to the official scorer during games to see how many more assists and rebounds he needed to get another triple double.

This only stopped after the league got wind and ordered official scorers to refrain from giving out stats during the game.

Jordan started keeping track in his head.

In the end, Jordan lost the triple double battle with Johnson - 17 to 15.

But Jordan wasn’t done with trying to out-Magic Magic.



Enter the 1991 NBA Finals.

Ever wonder why Jordan put up so many assists in the 1991 Finals?



It was because the dude on the other side was Magic Johnson.



Blatant examples of stat padding by Jordan tied to a rivalry with Magic.

I don't think you know what stat padding means.

I don't think you know what stat padding means.

If a player comes up with an individual statistical goal and goes after it regardless of whether it's best for the team, that's stat padding.

For Jordan in 1988-89, for example, if the best play is a hockey assist, Jordan may eschew that in favor of a direct assist in order to help towards his individual statistical goal. That's stat padding.

But you are using a hypothetical to back up an argument that is based on indirect evidence and an anecdote. There are plausible alternative interpretations that jibe with common narrative, so if that argument is, in fact, that the prevailing view is mistaken, then better evidence will certainly need to be provided to be convincing.

[Ice Trae]

God bless you for that first clip. That was **** hilarious

[Pinkyring]

Nobody going to bring up the blatant stat padded 81 point game?

[homecourtloss]

For context, the score of this Lakers win was 124-86 when this sequence began.

Watch on YouTube

Clipper players obviously weren't too offended by the Laker's scrubs trying to pad their stats, which is something that seems to be a theme in older games. But within the last ten years I've been watching, doing something like this would infuriate the losing team and would bring about a near-fight.

Examples:

Spoiler:

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

Good post. I cannot pinpoint when things changed (early 2000s?) but in the past, teams up big or down big or in between would try to score on the last possession and didnt’t always just dribbled out the clock. Also, it was t thought to be disrespectful or “an unwritten code of the game not to try and score on that last possession.”

[Baski]

MICHAEL JORDAN IN 1988-89.
(related: Michael Jordan’s assists in the 1991 Finals)

1988-89 is the year Jordan averaged 8 assists and 8 rebounds. It was also the year Jordan famously put up 7 consecutive triple doubles.

When you look at his season averages his 32.5/8.0/8.0 from 1988-89 stands out.

A legendary season (long used as an example of how Kobe doesn’t stack up to MJ, and also why Jordan and LeBron are more similar than you think).

But the full reason for why Jordan's 1988-89 season was so different than his others is rarely talked about beyond the fact that Collins moved Jordan to point guard.



Jordan started stat padding in 1988-89 because he was trying to put up more triple doubles than Magic Johnson.

Some backgroud: In the previous two seasons Jordan averaged 37.1 points and 35.0 points and had acquired the ball-hog label and was criticized for having a selfish/losing approach, in contrast to Magic Johnson, who was a triple-double machine, usually the league leader in triple-doubles, and the dictionary definition of a winner.

So Jordan was playing point and getting assists and he started to get a few triple doubles. He realized that he could get a lot more triple doubles and perhaps even more than Magic Johnson.

Jordan started going over to the official scorer during games to see how many more assists and rebounds he needed to get another triple double.

This only stopped after the league got wind and ordered official scorers to refrain from giving out stats during the game.

Jordan started keeping track in his head.

In the end, Jordan lost the triple double battle with Johnson - 17 to 15.

But Jordan wasn’t done with trying to out-Magic Magic.



Enter the 1991 NBA Finals.

Ever wonder why Jordan put up so many assists in the 1991 Finals?



It was because the dude on the other side was Magic Johnson.



Blatant examples of stat padding by Jordan tied to a rivalry with Magic.

To be fair though, this kind of has a different feel to me than regular stat padding. He was doing it because he saw all the love Magic got and wanted to beat him. Still a little sketchy to be sure, but it came from a competitive drive.

Jordan gets a pass for literally everything

[lazybatman]

MICHAEL JORDAN IN 1988-89.
(related: Michael Jordan’s assists in the 1991 Finals)

1988-89 is the year Jordan averaged 8 assists and 8 rebounds. It was also the year Jordan famously put up 7 consecutive triple doubles.

When you look at his season averages his 32.5/8.0/8.0 from 1988-89 stands out.

A legendary season (long used as an example of how Kobe doesn’t stack up to MJ, and also why Jordan and LeBron are more similar than you think).

But the full reason for why Jordan's 1988-89 season was so different than his others is rarely talked about beyond the fact that Collins moved Jordan to point guard.



Jordan started stat padding in 1988-89 because he was trying to put up more triple doubles than Magic Johnson.

Some backgroud: In the previous two seasons Jordan averaged 37.1 points and 35.0 points and had acquired the ball-hog label and was criticized for having a selfish/losing approach, in contrast to Magic Johnson, who was a triple-double machine, usually the league leader in triple-doubles, and the dictionary definition of a winner.

So Jordan was playing point and getting assists and he started to get a few triple doubles. He realized that he could get a lot more triple doubles and perhaps even more than Magic Johnson.

Jordan started going over to the official scorer during games to see how many more assists and rebounds he needed to get another triple double.

This only stopped after the league got wind and ordered official scorers to refrain from giving out stats during the game.

Jordan started keeping track in his head.

In the end, Jordan lost the triple double battle with Johnson - 17 to 15.

But Jordan wasn’t done with trying to out-Magic Magic.



Enter the 1991 NBA Finals.

Ever wonder why Jordan put up so many assists in the 1991 Finals?



It was because the dude on the other side was Magic Johnson.



Blatant examples of stat padding by Jordan tied to a rivalry with Magic.

Wow.. that's revealing. So Mike never wins.. not 6/6 just zip/zip, if Phil doesn't force him to pass.

Unpopular response to OP - Kobe's last 3 years. Love the guy. God rest his soul. But that was some exemplary stat padding.

[birdlives_ma]

MICHAEL JORDAN IN 1988-89.
(related: Michael Jordan’s assists in the 1991 Finals)

1988-89 is the year Jordan averaged 8 assists and 8 rebounds. It was also the year Jordan famously put up 7 consecutive triple doubles.

When you look at his season averages his 32.5/8.0/8.0 from 1988-89 stands out.

A legendary season (long used as an example of how Kobe doesn’t stack up to MJ, and also why Jordan and LeBron are more similar than you think).

But the full reason for why Jordan's 1988-89 season was so different than his others is rarely talked about beyond the fact that Collins moved Jordan to point guard.



Jordan started stat padding in 1988-89 because he was trying to put up more triple doubles than Magic Johnson.

Some backgroud: In the previous two seasons Jordan averaged 37.1 points and 35.0 points and had acquired the ball-hog label and was criticized for having a selfish/losing approach, in contrast to Magic Johnson, who was a triple-double machine, usually the league leader in triple-doubles, and the dictionary definition of a winner.

So Jordan was playing point and getting assists and he started to get a few triple doubles. He realized that he could get a lot more triple doubles and perhaps even more than Magic Johnson.

Jordan started going over to the official scorer during games to see how many more assists and rebounds he needed to get another triple double.

This only stopped after the league got wind and ordered official scorers to refrain from giving out stats during the game.

Jordan started keeping track in his head.

In the end, Jordan lost the triple double battle with Johnson - 17 to 15.

But Jordan wasn’t done with trying to out-Magic Magic.



Enter the 1991 NBA Finals.

Ever wonder why Jordan put up so many assists in the 1991 Finals?



It was because the dude on the other side was Magic Johnson.



Blatant examples of stat padding by Jordan tied to a rivalry with Magic.

To be fair though, this kind of has a different feel to me than regular stat padding. He was doing it because he saw all the love Magic got and wanted to beat him. Still a little sketchy to be sure, but it came from a competitive drive.

Jordan gets a pass for literally everything

Naw, I'd give the same leeway to David Robinson.

[Jakay]

I really prefer the newer more gentlemenly game. I would like to see the league get to a point where ever wins the opening tip is assumed to be the winner of the game and everyone shakes hands and calls it a day.

[GregOden]

Ricky Davis and Bob Sura are up there.