Step In The Lane (9-7-13): Paying Respect To Three Dynamic Backcourt Players

Welcome to the first edition of Step In The Lane on HoopsHabit.com. The Step In The Lane format — which will become frequent once the season rolls around — will be used to attack three different relevant NBA topics. Today we focus on the careers on three of the NBA’s great guards and where they fit among the top backcourt players of all time.

First Step – The Answer

Here is the first of two anonymous player comparisons that will be made over the course of this article:

Player A, Career, 26.7 PPG, 42.5/31.3/78 shooting splits, 6.2 APG, 3.7 RPG, 2.2 SPG, 3.6 TOV
Player B, Career, 25.5 PPG 45.4/33.6/83.8 splits, 4.8 APG, 5.3 RPG, 1.5 SPG, 3 TOV

Player A, Highest Scoring Season, 33 PPG, 44.7/32.3/81.4 splits, 7.4 APG, 3.2 RPG, 1.9 SPG, 3.4 TOV
Player B, Highest  Scoring Season, 35.4 PPG, 45/34.7/85 splits, 4.5 APG, 5.3 RPG, 1.8 SPG, 3.1 TOV

One player has essentially received nothing but critical acclaim for over a decade and the other spent a lot of his career being maligned as an inefficient volume scorer. Try to figure out two things here: A) Which player was the inefficient volume shooter and B) who is Player A and who is Player B.

When you look back on Allen Iverson‘s career it is somewhat difficult to find the flaws in his game that his critics point to. At least, it is hard to justify these flaws push Iverson too far down the pecking order of the greatest shooting guards of all time. In actuality there are only four guys who you can put above Iverson on the all-time off guard list without any real resistance — Michael Jordan, Jerry West, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade. In the case of Wade and Bryant, the only thing that sets them apart from Iverson is their championship pedigree. In case you could not figure it out Player A is Allen Iverson and Player B is Kobe Bryant. My hope is that the blind comparison revealed a few things regarding the edge — or lack thereof — either player has over the other. Mainly, there are only a few places where one player is more than marginally better than the other; for Kobe his only huge edge is a rebounder and Iverson counters that with consistently better distribution numbers — despite even turnover numbers — and consistently better steal numbers. Kobe’s efficiency numbers are a little better for their careers, but Iverson never had the luxury of a legitimate second offensive threat to relieve pressure and was only 0.3 percent worse a shooter than Kobe in their best seasons. I am not going to go all out into a comparison between Iverson and Kobe because — as I said previously — Kobe’s ring count gives him edge no matter what. But the two are a lot closer than people typically believe and for that alone Iverson should hold that No. 5 spot without any real resistance.

The main critique of Iverson’s game, though, is his efficiency and his reputation as simply a volume scorer. While I am not totally against calling Iverson a volume scorer and readily admit his shooting splits raise an eyebrow, I again refer you to the Kobe comparison to ask these question: How much different was his game compared to Kobe’s? And how much should we knock these players’ legacies because of the huge (and sometimes unnecessary) scoring load they took on each year? Iverson’s “inefficient” years happened in his rookie season and his third year through the 2004-05 season. Over that time though, Iverson had a usage percentage higher than 32 percent every year, managed higher than 35 percent twice and actually logged a 37.1 percent usage percentage one season. To put that in perspective, last season only Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony recorded usage percentages higher than 32 percent and only Anthony topped 35 percent — 35.3 percent to be exact. Rarely players take on the scoring load Iverson did during the first half of his career and when they do it is almost always a given their shooting splits will suffer. Iverson somewhat rectified his inefficiency problem as his career progressed, as well. From the 2005-06 season (when Iverson averaged a career-high 33 points per game) to the 2007-08 season (his last season full season with the Nuggets) Iverson managed to shoot better than 44 percent all three seasons and shot close to 46 percent in his only full season with George Karl. He also shot 46.1 percent from the field in his sophomore campaign, the season before his usage rates started rising to insane levels.

Also, calling Iverson a volume scorer totally ignores another aspect of his offensive game. Iverson averaged 6.2 assists per game for his career and topped seven assists in five different seasons. In those season Iverson recorded 36.1, 32, 33.1, 30.2, and 27.1 assist percentages — for comparisons those numbers rate near Damian Lillard and Deron Williams on each end of the spectrum. His assist-to-turnover ratios were never great, but his turnovers were as much a result of his scoring as it was his distribution and his numbers are not that bad when comparing him to other high-use shooting guards. For all of his scoring renown, Iverson was an underrated assist man and his ability to distribute was a huge part of his offensive game.

But Iverson’s playoff feats are the final element that sets him apart from the rest. Overall, in the playoffs Iverson was the same high-volume player and some years was actually less efficient than he was during the regular season. However, there are certain games and moments in Iverson’s playoff career that will forever be etched into NBA lore. Iverson cracked the 50-point barrier in the playoffs three times; his high is 55 and he managed 54-and 52-point games in the same series (against the Toronto Raptors in 2001). Iverson also became the only player to crack double digits in steals in a playoff game when he recorded 10 steals against the Magic in the 1999 playoffs. And last but not least, Iverson was the only person able slow down the unstoppable Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O’Neal combo in the 2001 NBA playoffs, when the Los Angeles Lakers went 17-1. And while the Lakers righted the ship and won the next four games, this moment will live forever at the top of Iverson’s legacy.

In The Lane – The Mac

Now for anonymous comparison No. 2:

Player B, Highest Scoring Season, 35.4 PPG, 45/34.7/85 splits, 4.5 APG, 5.3 RPG, 1.8 SPG, 3.1 TOV
Player C, Highest Scoring Season, 32.1 PPG, 45.7/38.6/79.3 splits, 5.5 APG, 6.5 RPG, 1.7 SPG, 2.5 TOV

This one should be easy. Player B is still Bean and Player C is the guy who would not have clashed with Shaq, Tracy McGrady. And since we are already here let’s do a little NBA thought experiment: If the Charlotte Hornets decide to keep Kobe Bryant and McGrady leaves Toronto for L.A. instead of Orlando, how do their careers turn out? Rash logic will point to Kobe’s “will to win” and “unstoppable determination” and say those things coupled with McGrady’s postseason struggles point to Kobe still finding a way to win and McGrady crumbling at the hands of postseason pressure. But we are going to cut the bullsh** and recognize that at his best, McGrady was every bit the scorer Kobe was and during the playoffs he was just as good as he was in the regular season. Also, McGrady not only matched Kobe’s production, he did it in a more efficient way and did it in a way that could breathe success for his teammates as well. With McGrady, the Lakers probably string together a few championship seasons in the early 2000s and since there is not blow up between Shaq and McGrady the Laker dynasty would have been brought to fruition instead of being prematurely ended too early in the decade.

But that is not reality. In reality, though, McGrady is still an amazing player who never had things bounce his way come playoff time. At the turn of the decade, when McGrady debuted the 2000-01 season with the Orlando Magic, McGrady revealed that he was one of the best offensive threats in the NBA. In his first three seasons he averaged upwards of 25 points, four assists and seven rebounds while shooting better than 45 percent from the field and 35 percent from 3. During this period and his time in Houston he did what other shooting guards — even the greats — are rarely able to do: He made himself a capable offensive threat at the rim, from the mid-range and from 3.

And contrary to popular belief, he kept up his offensive prowess come playoff time. McGrady improved in almost every aspect of his game come playoff time every season. In Orlando his shooting efficiency only dipped in his first season, when he was taking 30 shots a game and logged a 36.8 usage percetange. Every other year in Orlando he was just as good, or substantially better scoring the ball than he was in the regular season. The Houston Rockets’ years are a little more indicting, but even then there is nothing in his numbers that suggest he shied away from the playoff spotlight or choked under the pressure.

Look, McGrady as “the guy” never got out the first round and that should have some weight on his place in NBA history. However, it should not be held over his head to degree that most will hold it. If the 2013 NBA Finals taught us anything, it revealed just how many things have to break the right way for a team to win a championship. Miami was not so much better than San Antonio to warrant them being etched in NBA history with much more significance than the Spurs. They were two great basketball teams and things just broke Miami’s way.  We put a lot weight on playoff and NBA Finals success when in actuality there are way too many factors at play to use championship rings and playoff wins as the end all be all of an NBA player’s career. McGrady is not the champion Bryant is. That does not mean he is breathing the same air as Kobe, Wade and Iverson when it comes to the greatest shooting guards of all time.

The Finish – The Glove

A quick look recent Hall of Fame inductee Gary Payton’s credentials: nine All-Star appearances; nine NBA All-Defensive first team selections; nine All-NBA selections; one NBA championship at the back end of his career; 50th all-time in career 3-pointers; 25th in field goals; eighth in assists; fourth in steals; 11th in minutes; and 10th in games.

At the peak of his career, Payton was the cog that made George Karl’s fast paced, top five offenses and top five defenses run. For a stretch, he consistently put up 20 and nine seasons while keeping the tempo high in the Seattle SuperSonics frenzied offense. He was clearly one of the league’s top distributors night in and night out and showed his abilities as a scorer as well. Payton was always consistent finishing around the rim, would occasionally find hot spots from the mid-range over the course of a season and was actually quite consistent from behind the arc at his peak — though he really benefited from the shorter 3-point line.

But Payton’s greatest asset was probably as a defender. I already mentioned his standing on the all-time steal chart, but his abilities as a thief do not tell the whole story. Payton was menacing on the defensive end. He would frequently take the Avery Bradley approach and pressure the ball for 90 feet, hounding opposing point guards and making it impossible for teams to get into their offense. He was also suffocating in hampering scorers’ ability to put the ball in the basket. The greatest example of this, of course, came in the 1996 NBA Finals. In it, Michael Jordan — who was defended most of the series by Payton — had his only truly sub-par playoff performance. Jordan shot just 41.5 percent from the field in the series and averaged three turnovers per game. His worst performances came in Game 2, where Jordan went 9-for-22 with two turnovers; Game 4, a Sonics win where Jordan went 6-for-19 with four turnovers; and Game 6, where Jordan only went 5-for-19 and turned the ball over nine times. Payton was largely responsible for Jordan’s struggles and matched his stellar defense with good play on the other end, where he averaged 18 points and seven assists.

Jordan came away the ring, though. Payton won his 10 years later and almost two decades later, he is now a Hall of Famer.

And One

NBA TV showed every dunk contest they could dig out the archives last week and I had another chance to relive some of the magic that is rarely found in the contest nowadays. So as a bonus here are my four favorite dunks from the post-Vince Carter, pre-Dwight Howard “saving” the dunk contest era (in reverse order).

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