5-Year MVP
The length of a single season may not always be enough to properly gauge a player’s abilities. Take LaMarcus Aldridge of the Spurs for example. During the 2016–17 regular season, he had averaged the lowest number of points and rebounds since his rookie year. He was kept out of the All-Star Game after having been selected five years in a row prior to that season. As his numbers dropped and the trade rumors circulated, many believed that Aldridge had hit his decline. Those suspicions were proven false, however, as Aldridge was able to lead a Spurs team missing its best player to the playoffs the very next year.
This is just one scenario where a player’s numbers over multiple seasons are able to better represent how good he truly he is. To see who have been the most consistent producers and winners in the NBA, the stats from both the regular season and playoffs of 856 players, who have played at some point within the last five years, were examined. Specifically, players were evaluated based on five categories: scoring volume (number of points scored per game), scoring efficiency (difference between actual and expected points scored), passing volume (number of assists made per game), passing efficiency (difference between actual and expected assists made), and rebounding (number of rebounds collected per game).
Similar to how the NBA has an “official leaders” ranking of players for different statistical categories, the same was done here for regular season and playoffs separately (as shown below). To qualify for the regular season “official leaders”, players had to play a minimum of 200 games, and 20 games for the playoffs.
Based on these rankings, it is clear that Kevin Durant is hands-down the best scorer in the NBA. Identifying the best passer is a bit more challenging as there seems to be a sort of three-way tie between Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo, and John Wall. LeBron James and Russell Westbrook appear to be the league’s best all-rounded players.
The NBA presents the MVP award every year to the player who had the best season, which usually is the player that had the best stats on a winning team. Using this definition, the “MVP” of the last five years was determined. The top ten players are listed in descending order, along with their stats and success (in terms of wins) in the regular season and playoffs over the last five years.
10. DeMar DeRozan
Reg Season: 23.3 PTS, 4.5 REB, 4.1 AST… 239 wins out of 371 games played (0.644)
Playoffs: 22.0 PTS, 4.6 REB, 3.9 AST… 21 wins out of 51 games played (0.412)
9. John Wall
Reg Season: 19.9 PTS, 4.3 REB, 9.9 AST… 197 wins out of 357 games played (0.552)
Playoffs: 21.7 PTS, 4.5 REB, 10.2 AST… 20 wins out of 37 games played (0.541)
8. Blake Griffin
Reg Season: 22.1 PTS, 8.2 REB, 5.0 AST… 193 wins out of 301 games played (0.641)
Playoffs: 21.1 PTS, 8.7 REB, 4.1 AST… 17 wins out of 34 games played (0.500)
7. Klay Thompson
Reg Season: 20.9 PTS, 3.5 REB, 2.4 AST… 307 wins out of 389 games played (0.789)
Playoffs: 18.8 PTS, 3.8 REB, 2.5 AST… 66 wins out of 90 games played (0.733)
6. Chris Paul
Reg Season: 18.9 PTS, 4.7 REB, 9.6 AST… 243 wins out of 337 games played (0.721)
Playoffs: 22.4 PTS, 4.7 REB, 8.4 AST… 28 wins out of 51 games played (0.549)
5. Russell Westbrook
Reg Season: 26.1 PTS, 8.3 REB, 9.3 AST… 222 wins out of 354 games played (0.627)
Playoffs: 29.9 PTS, 9.5 REB, 9.4 AST… 24 wins out of 48 games played (0.500)
4. James Harden
Reg Season: 28.3 PTS, 6.0 REB, 8.1 AST… 258 wins out of 389 games played (0.663)
Playoffs: 27.5 PTS, 5.3 REB, 7.2 AST… 29 wins out of 56 games played (0.518)
3. Stephen Curry
Reg Season: 25.9 PTS, 4.7 REB, 7.1 AST… 294 wins out of 367 games played (0.801)
Playoffs: 26.0 PTS, 5.3 REB, 6.4 REB…57 wins out of 78 games played (0.731)
2. Kevin Durant
Reg Season: 27.4 PTS, 7.5 REB, 5.0 AST… 228 wins out of 310 games played (0.735)
Playoffs: 28.9 PTS, 7.9 REB, 4.1 AST… 51 wins out of 73 games played (0.699)
1. LeBron James
Reg Season: 26.3 PTS, 7.5 REB, 7.7 AST… 259 wins out of 378 games (0.685)
Playoffs: 30.1 PTS, 9.2 REB, 7.5 AST… 68 wins out of 101 games (0.673)
A final list of “MVP” rankings was compiled for 304 players who played at least 200 regular season games within the last five years. The top 100 players out of the 304 are shown below.
As far as the last five years go, LeBron James has been the “MVP”. That he has led his teams to 50 wins in the regular season and to the NBA Finals every year within the last five-year span only further supports his case. Even at the age of 33, he continues to be the face of the NBA. However, Kevin Durant is not too far behind James in the rankings, and has had tremendous success since joining the Golden State Warriors. It will be interesting to watch the tug-of-war that will most likely ensue between James and Durant over who is the premier player of the NBA.
