Who was the best shooter for their time?
I found that the following NBA players (of all time) had the highest
number of wins contributed by a player per 48 minutes.1
Michael Jordan (1984-2003)2
Height: 6-6
Weight: 195 lbs.
Draft: Chicago Bulls (23, 45)
Washington Wizards (23)
Hall of Fame: 2009
Wilt Chamberlain (1960-1973)3
Height: 7-1
Weight: 275 lbs.
Draft: Philadelphia Warriors (13)
San Francisco Warriors (13)
Philadelphia 76ers (13)
Los Angeles Lakers (13)
Hall of Fame: 1979
George Mikan (1949-1956)4
Height: 6-10 Weight: 245 lbs.
Draft: Minneapolis Lakers (99)
Hall of Fame: 1959
I targeted each athlete’s highest scoring season. I then gathered data
from other athletes scoring 1000 points or higher. The winner of a game
is the team that scores the most points. The player that makes the most
1http://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/nba_50_greatest.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/jordami01.html
http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/chambwi01.html
4 http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mikange01.html
2
3
baskets is key to the team’s success. I noticed that only a few players on
many teams scored 100 points or higher.
Each graph shows the athlete compared to the ‘over 1000 points’ scoring
athletes in the same season.5
1986-1097
Michael Jordan
Total Points (season)
Mean = 1468.33
Standard Deviation = 396.22
1961-1962
Wilt Chamberlain
Total Points (season)
Mean = 1650.94
Standard Deviation = 610.18
1950-1051
Mean = 1225.08
5
George Mikan
Total Points (season)
http://www.basketball-reference.com
Standard Deviation = 256.66
3041−1468.33
1572.67
z-scoreMichael Jordan =
= 396.22 = 3.97
396.22
Michael Jordan’s PERFORMANCE in the 1986-1987 NBA season was 3.97
standard deviations above the mean. His PERFORMANCE was at the
99.996 percentile.
4029−1650.94
2378.06
z-scoreWilt Chamberlain =
= 610.18 = 3.90
610.18
Wilt Chamberlain’s PERFORMANCE in the 1961-1962 NBA season was
3.90 standard deviations above the mean. His PERFORMANCE was at
the 99.995 percentile.
1932− 1225.08
706.92
z-scoreGeorge Mikan =
= 256.66 = 2.75
256.66
George Mikan’s PERFORMANCE in the 1950-1951 NBA season was 2.75
standard deviations above the mean. His PERFORMANCE was at the
60.850 percentile.
Interesting – even though Wilt Chamberlain is the highest scorer,
Michael Jordon is the better score, relatively speaking. Z-scores make
comparing an athlete’s PERFORMANCE relative to their cohort’s
PERFORAMANCE. Their PERFORMANCE is measured relative to
PERFORMANCES of their peers.
Some limitations of this research include data availability, number of
teams in the NBA (more players to choose from), technology / research
available to athletes to improve their PERFORMANCE, etc. Some
errors that could have been made in the research include setting the
minimum amount of points to consider at 1000 (perhaps all the NBA
players of the season should be considered), not including David
Robinson (1990 – 2003) because his career co-existed with Michael
Jordan’s,