OT Is Damian Lillard having the best non-All Star season ever?

God that would be hilarious.

 

I could actually see that happening.

 

Seriously though... I never even thought about this conspiracy theory.... and I love conspiracy theories.

Does shoe endorsements hurt your branding with the NBA?

 

No, that would be Tiny Archibald in 1971-72.

Archibald was second in the league in scoring (trailing only Kareem), at 28.2 ppg and 3rd in the league in assists at 9.2 apg. The only two players who averaged more assists per game were Jerry West (9.7 apg) and Lenny Wilkins (9.6 apg) both played in the Western Conference.

Archibald played in the Eastern Conference for the Cincinnati Royals. The East had multiple established point guards playing in larger markets on winning teams (Walt Frazier for the Knicks, JoJo White for the Celtics, Archie Clark for the 76ers). Archibald had better individual stats than all of them, but you could justify picking established stars from large markets over a second year player toiling away in one of the league's smallest markets. In the case of Frazier and White, you could also factor in team success. The Knicks and Celtics were the top two teams in the East that year. The Knicks won 56 games that year, the Celtic's won 48. Clark's 76ers won only 30 games, the same number as Archibald's Cincinnati Royals.

If that's where it ended, it would still be a snub, but not a snub of epic proportions. However, the East sent four PGs to the All Star Game that year and, for the life of me, I can't figure out how Butch Beard was selected as the fourth Eastern Conference All Star point guard over Tiny Archibald. Like Archibald, Beard was in his second NBA season. He played on the small market Cleveland Cavaliers and his team only won 23 games - seven fewer than Archibald's Royals. And then there are their individual stats:

Tiny Archibald:
28.2 ppg
9.2 apg
.486 FG%
.822 FT%
23.0 PER
12.9 WS


Butch Beard:
15.4 ppg
6.7 apg
.464 FG%
.760 FT%
15.7 PER
5.9 WS

How is that even close?

Have heart Lillard fans. In spite of his All Star snub, Archibald was selected 2nd Team All NBA. The following season Archibald would win the league MVP award and become the only player to ever lead the league in both scoring (34.0 ppg) and assists (11.2 apg) in the same season. At the time his 34.0 was the highest scoring average ever for for a guard. A mark that stood until Michael Jordan would average 37.1 ppg in 1986-87, and Archibald's 34.0 ppg is still the highest scoring average for a point guard in NBA history. At the time, his 910 assists was also an NBA single season record.

Archibald was a 6 time All Star, a hall of famer and won a title with the Celtics in 1980-81. That was Beard's only All Star appearance and his best season as a player. He kicked around the league as a role player, playing for 5 different teams in his 10-year NBA career. He won an NBA title with the Golden State Warriors in 1974-75, and was head coach of the New Jersey Nets for two seasons in 1994-95 and 1995-96. Ironically, in both his seasons as a head coach, his New Jersey Nets finished at 30-52, the exact same record as Archibald's 1971-72 Cincinnati Royals.

BNM

 

Mike Bibby wasn't an All Star in 2002 but he was incredible in that year's playoffs.