NBA Myth Busters #2: “Empty Stats”

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It’s no secret that some Star NBA players have never found success at the highest level.

Some players put up “good” or “great” offensive numbers on a team that lives at the bottom of the draft lottery, or even a team that gets lost in mediocrity...

... a popular term that NBA twitter has come up with to describe the performance of these players is “Empty Stats.”

Now, what exactly does this mean?

According to NBA twitter, stats become empty when a player is putting up seemingly good offensive numbers on a bad team.

There are a few sides that people take on this issue.

Some believe that basketball is a team game, therefore a single player should not be held responsible for team success.

Others believe that a players numbers hold less value when their team performs poorly.

Now, where do I stand on this?

Well, I’m under the impression that basketball is a team game.

An individual players stats should not hold more or less value based off of their teams success.

It may seem fair to assume that if your star player is putting up good numbers, but the team sucks, that player isn’t so great.

Some would argue that a player putting up 24 points on a contender is ALWAYS better offensively than a player putting up 25 points on a lottery team.

I wanted to look into this theory more. I decided to come up with a hypothesis so that I could attempt to DISPROVE this idea.

So,

“If a player puts up great offensive numbers on a bad team, then they aren’t as valuable as a player putting up similar numbers on a good team.”

In order to disprove this hypothesis, we’re first gonna need to go back to the year 2018.

You see, Hornets guard Kemba Walker had just been nominated for the all star game... after three different player injuries allowed him to secure a spot.

Leading up to the all-star break that season, Kemba was putting up a very respectable 22.7 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 5.9 APG.

However, the hornets were the 10th seed in the east, and the critics were quick to call empty stats.

Well, in order to prove these stats were meaningful, we need to look at the Hornets offensive rating with and without Walker.

With Walker OFF the court, the Hornets had a horrendous 97 offensive rating. Yuck.

With Walker ON the court, their offensive rating jumps to 112.2. Wow.

Now, that’s not the only way to tell that Kembas impact was felt.

With Kemba OFF the court, the Hornets shot a 44 efg%.

With Kemba ON the court, the Hornets shot a 52.1 efg%.

In addition to this, Walker had a 3.2 +-.

The all star voters decided to choose Goran Dragic ahead of Walker. The heat had a much better record, so it’s easy to see why they did it.

That season, Dragic had a 2.1 +-, and all around, his advanced numbers showed that he was less impactful for his team than Kemba Walker.

So, as you can see, the “empty stats” narrative even impacts the opinion of all star voters.

Does that seem crazy to you? Well, if it doesn’t, stay with me here. We’re about to dive even deeper.

I’m sure you’re all familiar with the recent emergence of the Phoenix Suns.

Leading that team is notorious “empty-stat” having Devin Booker.

Now, don’t lie to me, everyone has seen PLENTY of people accusing booker of having empty stats before the bubble...

It’s easy to see why people think this. Before the bubble, the suns were struggling. Nobody expected them to make the playoffs, and to most, it seemed like a waste to have them even going to the bubble.

However, once the suns got to the bubble, they have been AMAZING. Currently, they are the only undefeated team in the bubble.

It’s easy to link this recent success to a crazy jump in play from Devin Booker. However, Bookers stats haven’t actually improved to that degree.

On the season, Booker has been putting up 27 PPG and 7 APG. He is shooting 49% from the field and 36% from three.

In the bubble, Devin is putting up 31 PPG and 6 APG on 50% shooting from the field and about 35% from three.

Notice something? These numbers look close to IDENTICAL!

Now what does this mean? Simple, Devin Bookers numbers were never “empty” in the first place. The problem with the suns wasn’t him, it was the way his TEAM was preforming...

And yet, Devin Booker is still being called the MVP of the bubble by most people.

Does he deserve it?

YES! But his numbers looked similar in the regular season, yet most people didn’t consider him in the top 20 in MVP voting...

Devin Booker is just one example of how team success can impact the perception of a player, when that isn’t actually their problem.

People called Bookers stats “empty” when his team was losing. But when his teammates began to preform better, he was getting called the MVP.

So now, we’re left with a hypothesis to either accept or deny.

“If a player puts up great offensive numbers on a bad team, then they aren’t as valuable as a player putting up similar numbers on a good team.”

Devin Booker’s case would argue that this statement is FALSE.

Here, look at it like this.

“If Devin Booker puts up great offensive numbers on a bad team, then he isn’t as valuable as Devin Booker putting up similar numbers on a good team.”

Sounds dumb now, right?

He’s been valuable all season. The issue is that the Suns were a bad TEAM.

The truth is that team success should NOT play a roll in detetming whether a players stats hold significant value or not.

“Empty Stats” are literally a term created to judge a players stats off of their teams success.

Don’t knock a player for being in a bad situation, that isn’t their problem.

I think we should all move on from the “Empty Stats” narrative because we are harming the legacies of players that don’t deserve it.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading!