James Worthy has the nickname – “Big Game James” – and the
reputation of a top 50 player.
The advanced stats aren’t as kind. Worthy made seven
all-star games and won three NBA titles as the reliable third option on the
Show Time Lakers of Magic Johnson. Worthy was the sniper the Lakers could turn
to for big buckets. He shot 52.1 percent from the field in the regular season
and upped it to 54.4 percent in the playoffs. He had a great first step that
got him to the basket and an outstanding pull up jumper – and he was a great
finisher on perhaps the best fast-breaking team of all time.
Why isn’t he higher on this list? Two reasons:
·
His effectiveness declined quickly after he hit the age of 30 and
he was out of basketball by the age of 33.
·
He didn’t do much else other than score.
Despite being a 6-9 small forward, Worthy averaged just 5.1
rebounds per game. He was an OK passer with 3.0 assists per game but didn’t add
much in terms of steals or blocks.
These factors led to relatively pedestrian Player Efficiency
Ratings for someone with such a high shooting percentage. He only topped 20.0
in PER once in the regular season. He only had one season above 10.0 in win
shares. In fact, his career win shares put him in the same category as Glen
Rice and Lou Hudson. His best boxscore +/- was 4.1 and his best VORP was 4.5.
To his credit, he was far more deadly in the playoffs. In
the postseason, he topped 20.0 PER three times in nine seasons and had four
seasons in Box +/- that were better than his best regular season. In 1987-1988,
when the Lakers won their fifth and final NBA title in the Show Time era, it
was Worthy and not Magic Johnson who was named Finals MVP. Unfortunately, in
1991-1992, Magic Johnson suddenly retired and the baskets didn’t come as easy.
Worthy’s shooting percentage fell from 49.2 percent to 44.7 percent before a
knee injury ended his season. He never fully regained his quickness and his
shooting percentage continued to slip. He quite after the 1993-1994 season, after
averaging just 10.2 points on 40.6 percent shooting.
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James
Worthy bio info
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Career
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1982-1994
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Games
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926
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Points
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17.6
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Rebounds
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5.1
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Assists
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3.0
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FG Pct.
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52.1%
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All-Star games
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7
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MVPs
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0
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NBA titles
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3
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Playoff seasons
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9
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Playoff games
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143
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Points
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21.1
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Rebounds
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5.2
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Assists
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3.2
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FG Pct.
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54.4%
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Hall of Fame
|
2003
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Top 100
rankings
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||
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Points
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Top 100 ranking
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1-year
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300.77
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89th
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5-year
|
1,416.52
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53rd
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10-year
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2,384.14
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63rd
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Career
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2,527.46
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85th
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James
Worth at his peak
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|||
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1986-1987
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Worthy
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Top 5
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Points
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PER
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18.4
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26.44
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Win Shares
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9.3
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15.00
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Box +/-
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2.3
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8.36
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VORP
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3.1
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7.71
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Total Advanced Stats
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33.1
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57.52
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57.55
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Playoff PER
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21.0
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24.51
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Win Shares
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2.7
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2.76
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Box +/-
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5.4
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8.86
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VORP
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1.3
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1.57
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Total Advanced Stats
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30.4
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37.70
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80.63
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Reg. Season Win %
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79.27
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79.27
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Playoff Win %
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83.33
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83.33
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MVP Voting (75 points)
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0
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0
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Playoff MVP (25 points)
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0
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0
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Total Score
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300.77
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Worthy’s 10 greatest seasons
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1986-1987
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300.77
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1984-1985
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293.96
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1987-1988
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285.33
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1988-1989
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282.32
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1985-1986
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254.14
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1983-1984
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253.56
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1989-1990
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235.10
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1990-1991
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226.69
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1992-1993
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128.91
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1982-1983
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123.36
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Career
winning percentage
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|||
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W
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L
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Pct.
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Regular Season
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622
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304
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67.17%
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Playoffs
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96
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47
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67.13%
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