Who's The Best

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Who's The Best?
Max Berman February 12, 2007 spam lit 8
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LeBron James
Team Cleveland Cavaliers Position Guard/Small
Forward College N/A High School St. Vincent-St.
Mary Height 68 Weight 240 lbs. Born December
30, 1984 Number 23 Drafted Selected first
overall in 2003 draft by Cleveland Cavaliers
Source http//www.nba.com/playerfile/lebron_james
/career_stats.html
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Biography

• Born December 30, 1984, in Akron, Ohio
• Named the consensus 2003 National High School
  Player of the Year
• Led St. Vincent-St. Mary (SVSM) to three state
  championships in four seasons
• Named Mr. Basketball for the state of Ohio by the
  Associated Press (AP) for three straight seasons
  beginning with his sophomore year
• Named the MVP of McDonalds High School
  All-American Game, the EA Sports Roundball
  Classic and the Jordan Capital Classic
• James was the most highly scouted high school
  senior in the country.
• He opted out of attending many prestigious
  colleges, such as Duke University, to go straight
  to the NBA Draft.
• The Cleveland Cavaliers called James name with
  the first pick overall in the 2003 Draft.
• This is James fourth season with the Cavs. He
  has appeared in the postseason twice.

source http//www.lebron-james.us/highlights.html
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Career Highlights

• McDonald's All-American Game MVP 2003
• McDonald's All-American 2003
• Totaled 2,657 points, 892 rebounds and 523
  assists in four seasons at SVSM
• LeBron is the youngest player in NBA history and
  the first ever player for Cleveland Cavaliers to
  be named the NBA Rookie of the Year at just 19
  years of age.
• TSN NBA Rookie of the Year2003-2004
• NBA Rookie of the Year 2004
• NBA All-Rookie First Team 2004
• All-NBA Second Team 2005
• 2-time NBA All-Star 2005, 2006
• NBA regular-season leader, minutes played 2005
  (3,388)
• NBA regular-season leader, field goals made 2005
  (795)
• 2-time NBA All-Star 2005, 2006
• NBA All-Star Game MVP 2006
• LeBron is the youngest player in NBA history to
  record a triple-double in his career at just 20
  years of age.
• LeBron is the youngest player in NBA history to
  score 2000 points in a season and average 30
  points per game for a whole season.
• LeBron is the youngest player in NBA history to
  score 50 points in one game with 56 points and
  only 20 years of age.
• LeBron is the youngest player in NBA history to
  win an All-Star Game MVP at just 21 years of age.
  
• LeBron is the youngest player in NBA history to
  be named to the All NBA first team at just 21
  years of age.
• LeBron was the NBA Regular Season Leader with
  field goals made in 2005 scoring 795

Source http//cleveland.about.com/od/famousclevel
anders/p/lebron.htm http//www.lebron-james.us/hig
hlights.html
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Career Stats
source http//sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3704/c
areer
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PRABST
PRABST is an acronym for a system that seeks to
measure objectively the quality of the best
players within or across eras through statistical
analysis. The letters stand for the following
per-game average statistics P Points R
Rebounds A Assists B Blocked Shots S
Steals T Turnovers (subtracted from the total
of the other categories).
Depending on the assessments of individual
classes, any of the above statistics may be
multiplied to reflect importance. For example,
assists might be given two points because each
leads to a basket. A steal might also count
double because it both denies possession of the
ball to the opposing team and gives possession to
that players team. A typical PRABSOT formula
follows P R 2A B 2S - 2T PRABST
RANKING Applying the PRABST formula above to
LeBron James statistics, he would have an
overall score of 43.66
source Michael Conroy
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PRABST Rankings
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PRABST Critique
When ranking anything in the sports world,
questions are always raised about the validity of
the rankings. How can we truly rank the best
basketball players in the game today? With the
formula abbreviated by PRABST, the SPAM
literature class attempted to find an answer to
this. The career statistics of 24 of the games
best players were complied and added using the
PRABST formula to give us an idea as to who
really is the best. Seeing the rankings for the
first time, my eyebrows were raised on a few
aspects. LeBron James, the fourth year phenom
that jumped from high school to the big time was
ranked number one. Two-time (and campaigning for
a third) MVP Steve Nash was ranked a dismal
twenty-second. Stars such as Pau Gasol and Amare
Stoudemire, two of the games most dominant big
men, were also far down the list. The question
is why? Why is the leagues most valuable player
22nd out of 25 players? How could a kid be the
leagues best player? I would like to make a
few suggestions and comments as to why this
method and formula is utterly invalid. First and
foremost, one can not calculate a players
ability strictly with numbers. Lets take
Stoudemire for example. Amare is an outstanding,
dynamic player. He can single-handedly change
the course of a game simply by his presence in
the paint. This presence is not a number. It
cant be added into the PRABST formula. It
should definitely count for something towards
Amares greatness. This is also the case with
Steve Nash might not have the worlds greatest
stats, but they guy can flat out play. As if the
afore mentioned MVP awards dont speak for
themselves, Nash averages 13.8 points per game
and 7.4 assists per game (for more assists than
anyone on our list). He has arguably the best
basketball senses in the league, but that too can
not be calculated. So it seems a bit unfair to
me to go on strictly numbers (and just these few
numbers) to calculate whos the best.
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Furthermore, we chose not to include order of
finish in our rankings of the players.
Greatness, I believe, is partially measured in
hardware and honors. Being the two-time MVP has
to account for something. Being a champion has
to account for something. Also, representing
your country on the National Team has to account
for something. If included, players such as
Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant would certainly move
up and Allen Iverson and LeBron James (among
others) would move down the list. Finally, Id
like to bring up other intangibles that arent
necessarily numbers. Each player on this list is
great, but great in different ways. Sure LeBron
and T-Mac can score over anybody and Yao doesnt
have Ray Allens range, but each bring their own
something to their respective teams, which cant
be put in to numbers. Bill Walton said the other
night on Sportscenter that Steve Nash is the best
player in the NBA because of what he brings to
his team on a nightly basis. He added that when
Nash is on the floor, the decision making and
the flow of the game is fast and crisp and when
he is off the floor, all that is gone. A lot of
this paper has been advocating for the raise of
Steve Nashs rank on our list. I guess I see his
rank as the most unfair on our list he would
definitely be higher on my personal list. As for
my player, LeBron James, I think the top spot is
a bit ambitious for a guy in his fourth season
that hasnt even smelled a Conference Title.
LeBron can fill it up with the best and his
leadership skills and what he does for the
Cavaliers night in and night out are amazing, but
hes just not the elite player in the league
today, like perhaps Steve Nash. Ultimately the
PRABST raking system is flawed on the basis that
it only uses numerical statistics to compute
greatness. True greatness is much more than
numbers. Some players can flat out score night
in and night out and some players can block five
shots a night, but that isnt everything. Steve
Nash doesnt have the flashiest numbers in the
NBA but he is the best player on our list by far.
He is a leader that does so much for his team
when he is on the court. Other players say they
want to be Steve Nash or claim they are better,
but no one has the impact and skill that Nash has.