Guest Post Scoring Champion--And No, We're Not Talking About Wilt ChamberlainEric Ericson
So we are a little over 50 games into the NBA season, and if you open to the basketball section of most newspapers you will find Carmelo Anthony’s name at the top of a list. No, this is not the list of NBA players with the most tattoos, or the list of players who have donated the most to charity; this is the scoring leader list. Carmelo sits atop the scoring leader list because he is averaging 30.3 point per game. Yes, Carmelo is averaging 30.3 points per game, but he is not the true NBA scoring leader.
Gilbert Arenas—currently in second place because he is averaging 29.0 points per game—is the true scoring leader. Gilbert has scored 1,480 points in 51 games while Carmelo has only registered 1,121 points in 37 games. One might argue that a player should not held back from receiving an award due to injury—and that argument may have some merit. But our good friend Carmelo did not miss 15 games due to an injury: he missed 15 games because he was suspended for sucker punching a player. He probably should have gotten another 15 for running away and hiding after the sucker punch. Believe me; the Denver Nuggets could have definitely used some of Carmelo’s scoring during his 15 game suspension. Do you really think it helped the Nuggets each night knowing that they had the “NBA scoring leader” who they knew would not contribute a single point each night over the course of 15 games?
Let us revisit the missing games due to injury issue. The value of having the scoring leader on one’s team is that the points help the team try to win the game. If a player is missing games due to injury then they are not contributing any points to the team. The NBA Scoring Leader Award has minimums (70 games or 1,400 points) for a reason, and that reason is that it is more difficult to score bunches of points over a longer period of time. The NBA would not find it fair if they awarded the NBA Scoring Leader to Tracy McGrady because on opening night he lit up the Golden State Warriors for 45 points before injuring his knee in the fourth quarter and missed the rest of the season. Tracy McGrady 20006-2007 NBA Scoring Leader averaging 45 points per game (yeah and 45 points over an 82 game season too)!
What about other sports leagues? Do they give awards to those with the best averages, or the largest totals over the season? In major league baseball having the highest batting average is highly regarded, but so is hitting the most home runs. Imagine someone hitting 85 home runs in baseball in a single season—only to find out the MLB Home Run Leader for that year was someone who hit 83 home runs but played in 10 fewer games (higher home runs per game average). Each league has averages, and while it is good to give awards to those with the highest averages, most awards should be based on season totals. The NHL awards the player who scores the most goals. The NFL awards the running back that accumulates the most rushing yards—not the player with the highest average that missed a game due to injury or suspension.
So who is the real scoring leader? Currently it is Gilbert Arenas, but it might change before the regular season is over. There are still over 30 games remaining in the season. Still 30 games to convince David Stern that the true NBA Scoring Leader should be the player who scores the most points!
Gilbert Arenas—currently in second place because he is averaging 29.0 points per game—is the true scoring leader. Gilbert has scored 1,480 points in 51 games while Carmelo has only registered 1,121 points in 37 games. One might argue that a player should not held back from receiving an award due to injury—and that argument may have some merit. But our good friend Carmelo did not miss 15 games due to an injury: he missed 15 games because he was suspended for sucker punching a player. He probably should have gotten another 15 for running away and hiding after the sucker punch. Believe me; the Denver Nuggets could have definitely used some of Carmelo’s scoring during his 15 game suspension. Do you really think it helped the Nuggets each night knowing that they had the “NBA scoring leader” who they knew would not contribute a single point each night over the course of 15 games?
Let us revisit the missing games due to injury issue. The value of having the scoring leader on one’s team is that the points help the team try to win the game. If a player is missing games due to injury then they are not contributing any points to the team. The NBA Scoring Leader Award has minimums (70 games or 1,400 points) for a reason, and that reason is that it is more difficult to score bunches of points over a longer period of time. The NBA would not find it fair if they awarded the NBA Scoring Leader to Tracy McGrady because on opening night he lit up the Golden State Warriors for 45 points before injuring his knee in the fourth quarter and missed the rest of the season. Tracy McGrady 20006-2007 NBA Scoring Leader averaging 45 points per game (yeah and 45 points over an 82 game season too)!
What about other sports leagues? Do they give awards to those with the best averages, or the largest totals over the season? In major league baseball having the highest batting average is highly regarded, but so is hitting the most home runs. Imagine someone hitting 85 home runs in baseball in a single season—only to find out the MLB Home Run Leader for that year was someone who hit 83 home runs but played in 10 fewer games (higher home runs per game average). Each league has averages, and while it is good to give awards to those with the highest averages, most awards should be based on season totals. The NHL awards the player who scores the most goals. The NFL awards the running back that accumulates the most rushing yards—not the player with the highest average that missed a game due to injury or suspension.
So who is the real scoring leader? Currently it is Gilbert Arenas, but it might change before the regular season is over. There are still over 30 games remaining in the season. Still 30 games to convince David Stern that the true NBA Scoring Leader should be the player who scores the most points!
posted by Michael Pondrom at 8:52 PM
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