George Gervin was one of the rare ABA stars whose game exploded
when he got to the NBA.
Players such as Billy Cunningham, Rick Barry and Zelmo Beaty moved over to the ABA and had their best seasons. Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel, Connie Hawkins and Julius Erving started out in the ABA and had their best seasons. All were all-stars in the NBA, but their numbers slipped. It’s because of those players I decided to discount ABA statistics by 5 percent.
Players such as Billy Cunningham, Rick Barry and Zelmo Beaty moved over to the ABA and had their best seasons. Artis Gilmore, Dan Issel, Connie Hawkins and Julius Erving started out in the ABA and had their best seasons. All were all-stars in the NBA, but their numbers slipped. It’s because of those players I decided to discount ABA statistics by 5 percent.
Gervin though, he came into the ABA at age 20 and ended up
averaging 21.9 points per game over four seasons. When the merger came, he became
one of the NBA’s biggest guns. He won four scoring titles in a five-year
stretch. His advanced numbers are good as well. Gervin’s PER topped 20 every
year from 1973-1974 to 1984-1985, topping out at 24.7 in 1977-1978. He topped
10.0 win shares seven times out of eight seasons.
He also was a winner, at least during the regular season. Gervin’s
teams made the playoffs 12 out of 14 seasons and his regular season winning
percentage was 54.2 percent.
What keeps Gervin out of the top 50 is what happened in the
playoffs. Gervin never made it to the NBA or ABA Finals. His Spurs only
advanced as far as the conference finals twice. In 1978-1979, the Spurs fell to
the Washington Bullets in seven games. It wasn’t Gervin’s fault. He averaged 31
points in the series and had a 25.4 PER over the entire playoffs.
In 1982, the Spurs lost to the Lakers in six games. Gervin
averaged 22.7 points in the series.
In the other 10 trips to the playoffs, Gervin’s teams went
21-38. The fact that the Spurs couldn’t do damage in the playoffs cost Gervin
valuable winning percentage points. Had he played on a finals team or two, he
easily would have been top 50.
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George
Gervin bio info
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Career
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1972-1986
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Games
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1,060
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Points
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25.1
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Rebounds
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5.3
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Assists
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2.6
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FG Pct.
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50.4%
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All-Star games
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14
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NBA MVPs
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0
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NBA Titles
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0
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Playoff seasons
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13
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Playoff games
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84
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Points
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26.5
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Rebounds
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6.9
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Assists
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2.9
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FG Pct.
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50.1%
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Hall of Fame
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1996
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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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318.19
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64th
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5-year
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1,330.11
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81st
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10-year
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2,489.99
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49th
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Career
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2,959.31
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57th
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George
Gervin at his peak
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1977-1978
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Gervin
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Top 5
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Points
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PER
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24.7
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25.46
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Win Shares
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12.0
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12.09
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Box +/-
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4.1
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6.17
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VORP
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4.4
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5.08
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Total Advanced Stats
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45.2
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48.80
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92.62
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Playoff PER
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29.4
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24.75
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Win Shares
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1.2
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2.36
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Box +/-
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5.3
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6.80
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VORP
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0.4
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1.18
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Total Advanced Stats
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36.3
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35.09
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103.46
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Reg. Season Win %
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63.41
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63.41
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Playoff Win %
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33.33
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33.33
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MVP Voting (75 points)
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80.5/238
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25.37
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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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318.19
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Gervin’s 10 greatest seasons
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1977-1978
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318.19
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1978-1979
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306.49
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1979-1980
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268.94
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1981-1982
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253.57
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1980-1981
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248.73
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1982-1983
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241.58
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1975-1976
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234.03
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1974-1975
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224.27
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1973-1974
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211.27
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1976-1977
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182.92
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Career
winning percentage
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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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574
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485
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54.20%
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Playoffs
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34
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50
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40.48%
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