While this week's podcast focuses on NFL fandom, we kicked off the episode with discussion of what's been a historic NBA Finals so far. Fanalytics Fellow Adrian Thierry researched a few statistics that put these Finals into perspective for basketball fans. These meaningful numbers contributed to our conversation this week:
How does Nikola Jokić's 3 point percentage rank all time compare to deep ball marksmen like Ray Allen and Steph Curry?
Nikola Jokić: Shooting 46.9% from three in these Playoffs.
Stephen Curry: Averages 39.7% from three in his Playoffs career, averaging 42.2% in his best postseason (2014-2015).
Ray Allen: Averaged 40.1% from three in his Playoffs career, averaging 57.1% in his best postseason (2010-2011).
How does Nikola Jokić compare against other postseason triple-double machines?
Nikola Jokić: has nine triple-doubles so far this postseason
Wilt Chamberlin (1966-1967): Had seven postseason triple-doubles in his best postseason
Draymond Green (2018-2019) - Had six postseason triple-doubles in his best postseason
Magic Johnson (1981-1982) - had six career postseason triple-doubles in his best postseason
Regarding the 2 All Star Requirement for winning NBA Championships:
In the history of Playoffs, there have been 14 times when the Championship winner only had one All-Star. Recent examples include Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2021, LeBron James in 2016, Tony Parker in 2014, and Dirk Nowitzki in 2011.
Jimmy Butler and Nikola Jokić are the only two All-Stars from this season who made the NBA Finals.