Other than Tony Parker and Chauncey Billups, there really haven't been any star point guards who've won NBA titles since Thomas and Johnson more than 20 years ago.Ĭheck out how small of a scoring role most of the title-winning point guards have had:
Magic Johnson did it a few years earlier. Isiah Thomas was the last point guard to win a title and lead his team in scoring, back in 1990.
Only four times did a point guard win a title as the second-leading scorer, and three of those times it was Parker. Not once did a point guard lead his team in scoring and win an NBA title. To no one's surprise, the results were the same for point guards and scoring averages. And only once since 1999 has a team won a title with its point guard averaging the most shot attempts per game (Tony Parker, 2007-14.2 shot attempts per game to Tim Duncan's 14.1). You'll notice that in 11 of the last 15 years, the NBA champion's starting point guard was a third scoring option or lower. If he averaged the second-most shot attempts per game, he's the second scoring option, and so on. If a point guard averaged the most shot attempts per game on his team, he's logically the team's first scoring option. The chart below shows what each championship-winning point guard was ranked in their team's offensive pecking order. Teams with point guards ranked top-two on their team in scoring and field goals attempted have made noise in the playoffs, but few have made a permanent mark. Recent history and results have actually indicated that the majority of point guards who've started for NBA champions were either a third scoring option or lower. These are the guys teams use to fill in the gaps to support the major building blocks like Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade. Many have been role players-ball-movers and shot-makers, like Derek Fisher and Mario Chalmers. Since 1999, there's been a slight similarity among teams that won an NBA title-very few of them had high-profile point guards. Rather, it's questioning the chances of an NBA lineup whose top offensive weapon is its point guard. This isn't knocking guys like Paul and Rose or questioning their ability. In fact, the majority of starting point guards for championship teams have been supporting-cast members, as opposed to featured scorers in the offense. Steve Nash has a couple of MVP trophies, but not a ring or finals appearance. Deron Williams visited the conference finals in 2007, though he never made it back.
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