Yesterday I posted a comparison between the Laker portion of the careers of Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Magic Johnson, and Wilt Chamberlain to determine which player was the “Greatest Laker” among the 3 (it was Magic by a mile).
In that post I mentioned that Kareem played his best seasons, by far, in the Green and Red of the Milwaukee Bucks. Below is a career Win Chart for the Big Fella that backs up my assertion. (Glossary Link)
You will notice that most of Kareem’s tremendous +30 Value Scores were posted in Milwaukee. Of particular note is the 38.8 Value Score Kareem posted in 1971-72, one of the greatest seasons in NBA history (the very greatest individual season in NBA history was Wilt Chamberlain’s 1966-67 campaign with the 76ers when he posted an astonishing 49.7 Value Score. That number will never be surpassed).
Kareem’s Career according to Marginal Win Score
| KAREEM | WS | oppWS | MWS | W% | W__L | W>0.5% | VALUE |
| 69-70 | 17.28 | 12.45 | 2.42 | 0.919 | 13.5__1.2 | 6.1 | 19.6 |
| 70-71 | 23.26 | 11.26 | 6.01 | 1.531 | 20.7__(-7.1) | 13.9 | 34.6 |
| 71-72 | 23.46 | 11.04 | 6.21 | 1.559 | 23.1__(-8.3) | 15.7 | 38.8 |
| 72-73 | 22.41 | 11.22 | 5.59 | 1.459 | 19.7__(-6.2) | 12.9 | 32.6 |
| 73-74 | 18.82 | 10.22 | 4.29 | 1.241 | 18.2__(-3.5) | 10.8 | 28.9 |
| 74-75 | 16.95 | 11.52 | 2.72 | 0.971 | 11.1__0.3 | 5.4 | 16.5 |
| 75-76 | 22.87 | 12.66 | 5.11 | 1.369 | 19.3__(-5.2) | 12.2 | 31.5 |
| 76-77 | 22.24 | 11.91 | 5.17 | 1.379 | 17.2__(-4.7) | 10.9 | 28.1 |
| 77-78 | 22.28 | 12.39 | 4.95 | 1.349 | 12.7__(-3.3) | 8.1 | 20.8 |
| 78-79 | 21.23 | 12.33 | 4.45 | 1.259 | 16.5__(-3.4) | 9.9 | 26.4 |
| 79-80 | 19.86 | 11.89 | 3.99 | 1.181 | 15.3__(-2.3) | 8.8 | 24.1 |
| 80-81 | 18.08 | 11.75 | 3.17 | 1.039 | 12.8__(-0.5) | 6.6 | 19.4 |
| 81-82 | 15.98 | 12.86 | 1.56 | 0.771 | 8.5__2.5 | 3.1 | 11.6 |
| 82-83 | 15.73 | 11.79 | 1.97 | 0.839 | 8.9__1.7 | 3.6 | 12.5 |
| 83-84 | 14.17 | 11.63 | 1.27 | 0.719 | 7.8__3.1 | 2.3 | 10.1 |
| 84-85 | 16.52 | 11.42 | 2.55 | 0.939 | 10.2__0.7 | 5.7 | 15.9 |
| 85-86 | 13.01 | 11.94 | 0.53 | 0.599 | 6.5__4.4 | 1.1 | 7.6 |
| 86-87 | 12.11 | 11.51 | 0.31 | 0.559 | 5.6__4.5 | 0.5 | 6.1 |
| 87-88 | 15.98 | 11.93 | 2.03 | 0.849 | 8.1__1.5 | 3.3 | 11.4 |
| 88-89 | 7.51 | 11.83 | -2.16 | 0.139 | 1.0__6.0 | -2.5 | -1.5 |
| TOTAL | 17.99 | 11.78 | 3.11 | 1.033 | 256.7__(-8.3) | 138.4 | 394.9 |
May 22, 2011 at 1:53 am |
Those are incredible numbers. Bogut’s such a better defender than Kareem, if he could just develop some money offense he could dominate like the centers of old, like Dwight does now. There is still hope, as he seems to get better every year in some facet or another. Better days are ahead for the Bucks, much better.
May 22, 2011 at 1:56 am |
But no, AB will never put up Kareem-like numbers. He can get a good share of the way, though, and that should be good enough.
May 22, 2011 at 2:02 am |
Interesting that the 1983 season was so low. Worthy was hurt that season, the year of the Fo-Five-Fo Sixers when the Sixers and Bucks were the best teams in basketball and the Bucks were the best team never to win a title. One would think Kareem would have stepped up and done MORE that season, not less. It seems to say a lot about NBA defense. No James Worthy, it was easier to load up on Kareem. Worthy plays, Kareems numbers skyrocket.
I think that’ll always be the dog on Kareem — he always needed a lot of help, whether it was Magic, Worthy, Bobby Dandridge, the Big O. He never had to play alone without All-NBA caliber teammates. Never.