Ranking the Top 75ish NBA Players: article index and all the details
Ranking the Top 75ish NBA Players: article index and all the details
Introducing the BEAST metric
Eric Apricot says: This is an original series that analyzes and ranks the Top 75ish NBA players of all time, written by a friend of DubNationHQ.com. Some of you will be angered, some will think you can do better, but hopefully everyone can find something to enjoy in this journey appreciating the great historical achievements by past and present players.
Index for The Complete Series So Far
All-time NBA Players #82 - #71. Jrue, Jimmy, Russ, Jayson and Luka make the list
All-time NBA Players #69 - #61. Kyrie and AD headline this group
All-time NBA Players #60 - #50. Who was the better AI, Andre Iguodala or Allen Iverson?
All-time NBA Players #49 - #38. MVPs vs rings: Tony Parker and Steve Nash vie to top this tier
All-time NBA Players #37 - #33. Klay Thompson vs James Harden?
The Complete List So Far
*82 Jrue Holiday (94 BEAST points)
*81 Jimmy Butler (96 BEAST points)
80 Toni Kukoc (99 BEAST points)
79 Bill Walton (107 BEAST points)
77= Dave Cowens (111 BEAST points)
*77= Joel Embiid (111 BEAST points)
75= Dikembe Mutombo (112 BEAST points)
*75= Russell Westbrook (112 BEAST points)
*74 Jayson Tatum (114 BEAST points)
73 Clyde Drexler (115 BEAST points)
71= Gary Payton (117 BEAST points)
*71= Luka Doncic (117 BEAST points)
69= Horace Grant (120 BEAST points)
69= Chris Bosh (120 BEAST points)
*68 Kyrie Irving (121 BEAST points)
67 Chauncey Billups (123 BEAST points)
66 Ben Wallace (124 BEAST points)
65 Wes Unseld (125 BEAST points)
63= Patrick Ewing (127 BEAST points)
63= Reggie Miller (127 BEAST points)
*62 Anthony Davis (128 BEAST points)
61 Dennis Johnson (130 BEAST points)
60 Dwight Howard (132 BEAST points)
59 Paul Pierce (133 BEAST points)
58 Willis Reed (134 BEAST points)
57 Andre Iguodala (135 BEAST points)
56 Allen Iverson (136 BEAST points)
55 Walt “Clyde” Frazier (137 BEAST points)
54 Joe Dumars (138 BEAST points)
53 Charles Barkley (141 BEAST points)
52 Tom Heinsohn (142 BEAST points)
51 Artis Gilmore (146 BEAST points)
50 Elvin Hayes (147 BEAST points)
49 Ray Allen (162 BEAST points)
48 Sam Jones (164 BEAST points)
47 Robert Parish (175 BEAST points)
46 George Mikan (176 BEAST points)
43 (tied) Bob Pettit (179 BEAST points)
43 (tied) Pau Gasol (179 BEAST points)
43 (tied) Rick Barry (179 BEAST points)
42 James Worthy (180 BEAST points)
41 Kevin McHale (183 BEAST points)
39 (tied) Steve Nash (188 BEAST points)
39 (tied) Elgin Baylor (188 BEAST points)
38 Tony Parker (190 BEAST points)
The detailed formula for BEAST (Basketball Excellence As Statistically Tested)
Honors
Championships and finals awards
Championships modern NBA 1983/84 onwards (30 points star = top 3 player over 25mpg unless clear 3rd banana (20 points); 10 points major contributor = over 25 mpg/ clear major contributor; 5 points role player = over 20 mpg/ 15mpg + award, or clear role player)
Repeat champion modern NBA +15/ 5 not top 3 (or 3rd banana)
Threepeat champion modern NBA +30/ +10 not top 3 (or 3rd banana)
Consecutive Finals modern NBA (5 point for 3, 10 points for 4, 15 points for 5+; 20mpg playoffs in each season min/ 3/5/10 for not top 3)
Expansion era ring - 1966/67-1982/83 (NBA) (25 points top 3 player over 25mpg; 5 points over 25mpg; 0 points below)
Early era NBA ring - up to 1965/66 (15 points top 3 player over 25mpg; 3 points over 20mpg; 0 points below)
Consecutive Finals expansion era (3 points for 3, 5 points for 4)
NBL ring (5 points top 3 player)
ABA ring 20 points for top 3 player
Pre modern era NBA repeat +5
Pre-modern era NBA threepeat +10
Finals runners-up Modern NBA (5 points top 3 player over 25mpg; 3 points over 20mpg playoffs in relevant playoff season)
Finals runners-up expansion NBA (5 points top 3 player over 25mpg; 3 points over 20mpg)
Finals runner up early NBA/ ABA (3 points over 25mpg)
Finals MVP modern NBA (20 points)
Conference Finals MVP (5 points)
Finals MVPs emerging era NBA (15 points)
ABA playoffs MVP (15 points)
Regular season awards/ honours
MVP modern NBA (25 points 1st; 5 points 2nd; 3 points 3rd; 1 point over 100 voting points) (10 points under 60% wins - 50 game pace/ under 50 games played/ extreme voter error)
MVP pre-modern era (20 points; 3 points 2nd; 2 points 3rd) (10 points under 60% wins - 50 game pace/ under 50 games played/ extreme voter error)
ABA MVP (20 points)
NBL MVP (5 points)
pre modern era NBA/ ABA Consecutive MVPs +10/ three consecutive MVPs +20
modern era Consecutive MVPs +15/ three consecutive MVPs +30
DPOY (5 points) + 25 if also MVP
Scoring Champion (NBA/ABA) (5 points)/ NBL (2 points)
Other season leader (NBA/ ABA) (assists, rebounds, blocks, steals, threes) (2 points)
All NBA team selection 3 point 1st team/ 2 point 2nd/ 3rd team; ABA/ NBL 1 point
All defense team selection 2 points/ ABA 1 point
All star selection (NBA only) (1 point)
NBA Cup (1 point for top 3 player)
Minor NBA award - Rookie of the Year/ 6th Man of the Year/ Most improved/ Clutch PoY (1 point)
Major honors, other leagues
Euroleague Title (3 points)
Euroleague 3peat (3 points)
Euroleague MVP/ Finals MVP (2 points)
Euroleague Finals top scorer (1 point)
ACB/ Yugoslav title/ MVP (2 points)
Titles/ MVPs in other major professional leagues/ ACB Finals MVP (1 point)
NCAA title/ Consensus college player of the year (2 point)
NIT title/ MVP (1 point)
College player of the year (50%+ of available awards)/ final four mvp/ scoring champ (1 point)
Threepeat NCAA award/ top scorer/ repeat consensus (2 points)
Olympics - 3 for US gold (like All NBA team selection);
international players 25 points gold (beating US = international championship, emerging era), silver/ bronze 1 point;
+10 for non-US Olympic MVP/ +5 for US Olympics MVP;
3 points all tournament team/ 3 for 2nd team/ top scorer
5 points major Olympics record
3 points major statistical record pro era
FIBA World Cup 2 points for international gold; 1 for US gold; 1 for MVP/ all tournament team/ top scorer
Other major international tournament (Eurobasket/ Americup) international non-US gold/MVP (1 point)
Individual Stats
Totals (emphasizes longevity)
Career leaders major category counting stats (NBA/ ABA regular season AND playoffs combined):
Top 50 points breakdown
1 - 30
Top 5 25
Top 10 20
Top 20 15
Top 30 10
Top 40 5
Top 50 3
Top 30 Rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, threes
1- 25
Top 5- 20
Top 10 15
Top 15 10
Top 20 5
Top 30 3
NBA finals counting stats major category leader career:
Top 30 (20 top; 15 top 5; 10 top 10; 5 top 20; 3 top 30)
Multiple categories totals*
75 for 6
50 for 5
25 for 4 if 50% are defense, or you have one defense and one offense stat top 10
10 for 3 if 2+ are top 5
Multiple categories totals in Finals*
50 for all 6
25 for 5
10 for 4 (5 for half)
*+10 if more than half the categories are top 5
Per game (balances against peak)
Career per game leaders (top 30)
Regular season 10 top; 5 top 5; 3 top 10; 2 top 20; 1 top 30
Playoffs 15 top; 10 top 5; 5 top 10; 3 top 20; 2 top 30 (25 game min)
Finals 15 top; 10 top 5; 5 top 10; 3 top 20; 2 top 30 (10 game min)
(*for 3s per game all stars/ likely all stars/ international stars only; min 250 attempts for reg season/ 50 for playoffs; top 25 for finals)
Efficiency
TS% top 50 (10 fga/ pg minimum)
Regular season 20 for top/ 15 top 5/ 10 top 10/ 5 top 20/ 3 top 30/ 1 for top 50
Playoffs (50 game min) 25 for top/ 20 top 5/ 15 top 10/ 10 top 20/ 5 top 30/ 3 top 50
Finals top 30 (10 game min) 25 for top/ 20 top 5/ 15 top 10/ 10 top 20/ 5 top 30
Win shares
(not perfect but an individual contribution to team success, NBA finals stats not available)
Regular season 20 for top/ 15 top 5/ 10 top 10/ 5 top 20/ 3 top 30/ 2 for top 50/1 for top 75
Playoffs 40 for top/ 30 top 5/ 25 top 10/ 20 top 20/ 15 top 30/ 10 top 50/ 5 for top 75
Career RAPM
Including playoffs (counts impact on court beyond box score; Jerry Engelmann’s age-adjusted, coach-adjusted 1997- 2024 data).
1- 25/ Top 5- 20/ Top 10 15/ Top 15 10/ Top 20 5/ Top 30 3
Individual records
Bonus points
Bonus for mega-scoring club
Over 70 - 3 points per game
Multiple over 60 - 2 points
Over 60 - 1 point
Over 60 in playoffs - 5 points per game
Over 50 playoffs - 3 points per game; 1 point if first round (bonus +2 if in Game 7 or Finals)
Bonus for 50-40-90 club
5 points
10 points for 20ppg+
+5 for 25ppg+
+10 for 30ppg+
+5 for 45% on 3s
+3 for consecutive seasons/ +5 for three consecutive seasons
+3 for near miss
Bonus for triple double club
10; 5; 3 points for top 3 playoff triple doubles
5; 3; 2 for top 3 most triple doubles in a single playoffs
3 points for averaging triple double in a regular season (+2 if 30 points/ 11 pts/ rbds; 1 point if -45% fg%)
3 points for over 100 career regular season triple doubles
Bonus points available for special achievement (ie unbreakable record, major achievement/ record individual or team; need to be critical player for all or most to get full points):
10;5;3 for major playoff record 1st/2nd/3rd or unbreakable individual regular season record
5;3;2 for notable regular season record 1st/2nd/3rd or minor playoff record
3 for minor record
Top single finals series stats:
top ten ppg 15;10;8;6;4;3 for top ten
Top 3 rpg, apg, spg, bpg 10;5;3
Most 3s in a finals series 10;5;3
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