Random Stats: Best PER by age

I'm using the APBRMetrics Stats Query page at basketball-reference.com for these results.

Let's look at highest PER by age (minimum 500 minutes played):

18-23, PER
<div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/><font color=""Navy""> NameMPPER</font><br/>1LeBron James 336128.1<br/>2Chris Bosh 275123.1<br/>3Chris Paul 280922.1<br/>4Carmelo Anthony 294022.0<br/>5Gerald Wallace 189721.3<br/>6Tony Parker 271520.8<br/>7Jameer Nelson 178619.5<br/>8Dwight Howard 302519.3<br/>9Channing Frye 157218.1<br/>10Chuck Hayes 53418.0<br/></div>

24-27, PER
<div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/><font color=""Navy""> NameMPPER</font><br/>1Dirk Nowitzki 308628.11<br/>2Kobe Bryant 327328.02<br/>3Dwyane Wade 289727.6<br/>4Elton Brand 309626.59<br/>5Yao Ming 194625.71<br/>6Gilbert Arenas 338323.8<br/>7Shawn Marion 326823.59<br/>8Pau Gasol 313222.66<br/>9Tracy McGrady 174621.95<br/>10Carlos Boozer 102621.39<br/></div>

28-32, PER
<div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/><font color=""Navy""> NameMPPER</font><br/>1Kevin Garnett 296026.8<br/>2Allen Iverson 310125.9<br/>3Paul Pierce 308723.6<br/>4Billups292823.4<br/>5Steve Nash 280123.2<br/>6Tim Duncan 278723.1<br/>7Manu Ginobili 181622.4<br/>8Ray Allen 302222.2<br/>9Ilgauskas 228321.9<br/>10Vince Carter 290821.6<br/></div>


33+, PER
<div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/><font color=""Navy""> NameMPPER</font><br/>1Shaq O'Neal180524.4<br/>2Alonzo Mourning 130419.4<br/>3Grant Hill 61219.0<br/>4Sam Cassell 265418.5<br/>5Brent Barry 125714.9<br/>6Eddie Jones 243914.7<br/>7Jalen Rose 198113.9<br/>8Robert Horry 118213.6<br/>9Kurt Thomas 141113.1<br/>10P.J. Brown 238212.7<br/></div>

 

I suck at stats, can someone explain what PER is?

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting authentiq:</div><div class="quote_post">I suck at stats, can someone explain what PER is?</div>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Player_efficiency_rating

Basically, it rates a player's statistical production per possession. Since stats don't do a good job in measuring some facets of the game (particularly on the defensive end), it's not a good measure for some types of players. For example, it underrates Ben Wallace.

 

Durvasa knows all....

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">
Durvasa do you think you could dig up the statistical data for this?</div>

Here's the top 10 by age bracket for current players, combining years. The age considered is as of February 1st of a given season. Minimum minutes played set to 500 minutes. Shaq is far and away the most dominating player, as one would expect. And if you're wondering, Kobe just missed out the top 10 for the 18-22 bracket. He was number 12, behind Yao, and had a 20.52 PER. If you look at 18-19 age bracket, he'd be 5th (behind McGrady, LeBron, Carmelo, and Dwight Howard in that order).

<font size=""4"">Current Players</font>

18-22
<div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/> <font color=""Navy"">NameYrsMPPER</font><br/>1Shaquille O'Neal 3921826.7<br/>2LeBron James 3987124.2<br/>3Tim Duncan 2516722.9<br/>4Tracy McGrady 51074622.5<br/>5Chris Paul 1280922.1<br/>6Elton Brand 3892621.6<br/>7Chris Webber 3506321.3<br/>8Amare Stoudemire 3748421.2<br/>9Andrei Kirilenko 3725921.0<br/>10Alonzo Mourning 1264420.8<br/></div>

23-27
<div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/> <font color=""Navy"">NameYrsMPPER</font><br/>1Shaquille O'Neal 51093028.9<br/>2Tim Duncan 51508525.9<br/>3Kevin Garnett 51617325.4<br/>4Tracy McGrady 41055725.4<br/>5Dwyane Wade 2587125.3<br/>6Dirk Nowitzki 51503025.3<br/>7Kobe Bryant 51487425.0<br/>8Elton Brand 41122023.6<br/>9Yao Ming 3708523.4<br/>10Gilbert Arenas 2665722.6<br/></div>


28-32
<div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/> <font color=""Navy"">NameYrsMPPER</font><br/>1Shaquille O'Neal 51283828.2<br/>2Kevin Garnett 2608127.5<br/>3Tim Duncan 2499024.8<br/>4Paul Pierce 1308723.6<br/>5Allen Iverson 3831523.3<br/>6Alonzo Mourning 4726223.1<br/>7Gary Payton 51503522.4<br/>8Manu Ginobili 1181622.4<br/>9Vince Carter 2573622.2<br/>10Steve Nash 41069722.1<br/></div>


33+
<div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/> <font color=""Navy"">NameYrsMPPER</font><br/>1Shaquille O'Neal 1180524.4<br/>2Sam Cassell 4971420.8<br/>3Grant Hill 161219.0<br/>4Gary Payton 51418018.0<br/>5Alonzo Mourning 3222117.5<br/>6Dikembe Mutombo 71265816.5<br/>7Elden Campbell 4430616.2<br/>8P.J. Brown 41056115.4<br/>9Toni Kukoc 5683915.0<br/>10Jon Barry 4442114.8<br/></div>

And, for fun, here's the top ten lists looking at all players since 1978. People forget how good David Robinson was in his prime. From a statistical perspective, at least, he was awesome.

<font size=""4"">All Players, since 1978</font>

18-22
<div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/> <font color=""Navy"">NameYrsMPPER</font><br/>1Shaquille O'Neal 3921826.7<br/>2Michael Jordan 2359526.1<br/>3LeBron James 3987124.2<br/>4Tim Duncan 2516722.9<br/>5Marques Johnson 2554422.6<br/>6Magic Johnson 3715722.6<br/>7Tracy McGrady 51074622.5<br/>8Chris Paul 1280922.1<br/>9Elton Brand 3892621.6<br/>10Chris Webber 3506321.3<br/></div>

23-27
<div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/> <font color=""Navy"">NameYrsMPPER</font><br/>1Michael Jordan 51607831.1<br/>2Shaquille O'Neal 51093028.9<br/>3Charles Barkley 51458127.1<br/>4David Robinson 41187226.3<br/>5Tim Duncan 51508525.9<br/>6Kevin Garnett 51617325.4<br/>7Tracy McGrady 41055725.4<br/>8Dwyane Wade 2587125.3<br/>9Dirk Nowitzki 51503025.3<br/>10Kobe Bryant 51487425.0<br/></div>

28-32
<div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/> <font color=""Navy"">NameYrsMPPER</font><br/>1David Robinson 51193829.4<br/>2Michael Jordan 4992728.5<br/>3Shaquille O'Neal 51283828.2<br/>4Kevin Garnett 2608127.5<br/>5Larry Bird 51243326.5<br/>6Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 3856526.4<br/>7Magic Johnson 41139325.5<br/>8Hakeem Olajuwon 51407025.5<br/>9Karl Malone 51572125.1<br/>10Tim Duncan 2499024.8<br/></div>

33+
<div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/> <font color=""Navy"">NameYrsMPPER</font><br/>1Karl Malone 82105124.8<br/>2Shaquille O'Neal 1180524.4<br/>3Michael Jordan 41141323.5<br/>4David Robinson 51046222.4<br/>5Charles Barkley 4639822.2<br/>6John Stockton 81874921.9<br/>7Hakeem Olajuwon 71303821.5<br/>8Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 92253221.2<br/>9Magic Johnson 195821.1<br/>10Dan Issel 4866321.0<br/></div>

 

Shaq ripped it.

 

Here's the average PER for the top 50 players, by age. For some ages, there aren't enough players so I showed the total number of seasons represented. This distribution should more or less match avg PER for all players (not just the top players), I think.

<div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><br/><font color=""Navy"">age#yrsavg PER</font><br/>18215.9<br/>193113.5<br/>205016.7<br/>215019.6<br/>225020.7<br/>235022.3<br/>245022.9<br/>255023.1<br/>265023.4<br/>275023.5<br/>285022.9<br/>295023.1<br/>305021.9<br/>315021.4<br/>325020.9<br/>335020.3<br/>345019<br/>355017.9<br/>365016.1<br/>375013.5<br/>382913.8<br/>391713.8<br/>40516.6<br/></div>

And here's a pretty graph:

 

Judging by the graph most players hit their peak at 27 which is something i already assumed.

 

<div class="quote_poster">Quoting shapecity:</div><div class="quote_post">Awesome work Durvasa, the graph if very revealing. I wonder what the spike at age 40 is about? I wonder if a player entering their mid-life crisis has extra motivation.

It would be interesting to see how mid level players match up with the elite. I'm guessing their PER fluctuates a lot more based on playing very well in contract years, and then producing less after they get a long term deal.</div>

The reason for the spikes at the tails simply have to do with the samples (that's why included number of years represented in the table). At age 18, you only had Kobe and McGrady represented. And at 40, you had Stockton, Malone, Parish, Abdul-Jabbar, and Kevin Willis. If all players retired after 40, you can be sure that average PER would have steadily declined.