2018-19 James Harden just had the greatest offensive season of all time

Any idea why ORPM doesn’t exactly see it that way? As far as it goes back that curry season is ranked 4th overall. Obviously no stat is perfect, just curious on your take.

14/15 Harden 8.66
13/14 Lebron 8.65
14/15 Westbrook 7.79
15/16 Curry 7.65
18/19 Harden 7.57

 

As I recall, ORPM (or RPM in general) is an adjusted +/- stat that uses a box +/- metric (similar to BPM) as a prior to stabilize it. But it will be more noisy compared to a stat that's just based on box score statistics, and its probably more sensitive to the particular lineups used across the league in a given season so tougher to compare RPM across seasons and draw conclusions that way. If you just look at ORAPM (source) -- an offensive adjusted +/- stat that doesn't using box +/- at all -- Curry was #1 in 2016 at +3.04, while Harden was #1 in 2015 at +7.63. Why there was such a difference from one year to the next I can't exactly say.

 

Love whoever made this

 

Post his stats when playing without All-Star teammates.

 

From NBA.com:

I guess this guy doesn't realize that 36.1 > 35.4. The parenthetical should have been "his 36.1 ppg is the highest in the league since Jordan's 37.1 ppg in '86-87".

 

That's a really cool graphic. Great work from whichever employee put that together.

 

When Harden retires and his time is long past people are going to wonder how he only had 1 MVP...but hopefully it won't matter next to his championship rings.

 

No shame in that. Other famous players with only 1 MVP: Hakeem, Shaq, Kobe, Dr. J. And there are some legends who put up crazy numbers that had 0: Jerry West, Oscar Robertson, Elgin Baylor.

Rings and Finals MVPs are way more important for Harden's legacy at this point.

 

Good point. Pretty crazy, isn't it.

 

I think it's a shame those players played in an era with multiple MVP caliber players.

One has to find a way to give out Shared Co-MVPs. Well, I think Finals MVP makes up for that.

Would be all for that.

 

I already know that WS really values rebounds, so it would disfavor Harden compared to guys like Wilt and Kareem. But I searched season leaders by VORP, and while Harden's season was great, it lags behind several from Jordan, and oddly, Russ at the top of the list: https://www.basketball-reference.co...omp=gt&c1val=8.5&order_by=vorp&order_by_asc=Y

What gives?

That said, the MVP is his, and as far as I'm concerned, he's the best, most efficient offensive player ever, supplanting Magic.

 

What’s sad is this reality...

If you take his whole season... the slow start as a team, the injuries, the picking up his game to carry his team on his back, the 30+ scoring streak, the crazy historical stats, EVERYTHING exactly the same but it be LeBron and every fan, every person in the media, EVERYONE would be going crazy over this season and he would not only be unanimous MVP but it would be called the greatest season by an individual in history.

 

I live to be disappointed. I think the NBA is going to treat our Rockets as just another villain miniboss to be defeated by the Warriors before they pass the torch to the league's new superstar in Milwaukee. But damnit, I would love few things more in these few months, than to see Harden shove that MVP trophy in the Finals right up Giannis's and the NBA's asses.

I feel privileged to get to watch basketball at this high a level. Growing up, I idolized the Showtime Lakers, but never got to watch them play on anything other than the kind of 13 inch color TVs many of us grew up with. I'm going to go see him play live, this year, like I saw Clemens pitch in 2004, just so I can tell people many years from now what it was like to see the best in the world, at the height of their powers.

 

Do you believe his other line - Greek Freak had a "season for the ages"?

 

It is all about whether or not he can do it in the post season now... at least one championship will solidify his legacy...

 

Yahoo! Playoff graphic, but someone's missing. Hmmmm....

 

'Twas I.

 

VORP is based on BPM. BPM adds up various box score stats using different weights to estimate offensive and defensive impact, and the weights are determined via a regression analysis. Westbrook kind of broke the model by putting up just unheard of rebounding numbers for a guard.

 

this poster right here is the tkdog34 from realgm. I just know it. Closet harden hater