Monday, April 14, 2014

NBA HISTORY: STATISTICS ABOUT THE MOST EFFICIENT 2-PT FIELD GOAL % SCORERS IN THE REGULAR SEASON.

Most impressive records in NBA history about efficient scorers in regular season: the best 2-PT Field Goal % scorers.

This is the third part of a series of articles about historical records on the major statistics in NBA history (points, assists, rebounds…) while looking at which current player could eventually challenge these records along  his career.
In the two previous articles, we looked at the most general efficient scorers and records in points in the NBA history. We saw that Steve Nash was the current leader in term of efficiency while Kevin Durant was in position to challenge some records over his career as well as in terms of efficiency (see the article) as in points (see the article).
Today, we continue to focus on the most efficient scorers: the best 2-PT Field Goal Pct shooters.


A. RECORDS IN SCORING EFFICIENCY.
I looked at players that reached at least 60% in 2 points field goal % per season (with a minimum of 62 games, or 75% of a season, and 24 minutes played per game).
It’s no surprise to see that the majority of players hitting this threshold are/were forwards/centers, players that use to play near the basket. 
Within this list, we then found some of the most powerful and best ever players of the NBA history (Charles Barkley with 5 years; Wilt Chamberlain with 3 years, Shaquille O'Neal with 2 years and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 1 year: see the articles about the G.O.A.T).
30 players reached this benchmark in NBA history. Artis Gilmore is the leader in this statistic with 6 years. The first player to reach this threshold was Wilt Chamberlain in 1967. The most recent players who achieved it were Lebron James , Tyson Chandler and DeAndre Jordan. It was last year (see table (a) below for the details).
We must mention that one of the best shooter non Forward/Center ever to play appears in this list: Chris Mullin.
Finally, the record in term of the best 2 points field goal % ever for one season belongs to Wilt Chamberlain with an amazing 72.7% in 1972/73 (see table (b) below for the details).

a. In the regular season; from 1946-47 to 2012-13; requiring 2-PT Field Goal Pct >= 0.6 and Games >= 62 and Minutes Per Game >= 24; sorted by most seasons matching criteria.
Rk
Player
From
To
Count 
1
Artis Gilmore
1981
1986
6
2
Charles Barkley
1987
1991
5
3
2007
2013
5
4
Wilt Chamberlain
1967
1973
3
5
1997
2001
3
6
2007
2010
3
7
2011
2013
3
8
1987
1988
2
9
1989
1990
2
10
1991
1992
2
11
2005
2009
2
12
2007
2008
2
13
2008
2010
2
14
2009
2011
2
15
1975
1975
1
16
1977
1977
1
17
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1980
1980
1
18
1980
1980
1
19
1981
1981
1
20
1985
1985
1
21
1986
1986
1
22
Dennis Rodman
1989
1989
1
23
1994
1994
1
24
1997
1997
1
25
Chris Mullin
1997
1997
1
26
1997
1997
1
27
2007
2007
1
28
2008
2008
1
29
2008
2008
1
30
2013
2013
1

b. In the regular season; from 1946-47 to 2013-14; requiring 2-PT Field Goal Pct >= 0.6 and Games >= 62 and Minutes Per Game >= 24; sorted by descending 2-PT Field Goal Pct (the full data with this link).
Rk
Player
Season
Age
G
2P%
3P%
FT%
1
1972-73
36
82
.727

.510
2
2010-11
22
80
.688
.000
.452
3
1966-67
30
81
.683

.441
4
2011-12
29
62
.683
.000
.689
5
2013-14
25
80
.675

.434
6
1980-81
31
82
.670

.705
7
2010-11
28
74
.654

.732
8
1988-89
28
82
.653

.535
9
1981-82
32
82
.652
1.000
.768
10
1971-72
35
82
.649

.422


B. CURRENT SEASON 2013/2014.
Currently, there are 4 players who are in position to reach this threshold during the current season. 
Lebron James could do it for the second season in a row while DeAndre Jordan would reach this benchmark for the fourth consecutive year.

a. In the regular season; in 2013-14; requiring 2-PT Field Goal Pct >= 0.6 and Games >= 62 and Minutes Per Game >= 24; sorted by descending 2-PT Field Goal Pct.
Rk
Player
Season
G
2P%
3P%
FT%
1
2013-14
79
.674

.439
2
2013-14
66
.629

.344
3
2013-14
79
.627
.000
.413
4
2013-14
76
.624
.378
.754

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