Mikkeman wrote:51.2% as effective FG% is still better than career eFG averages of players like Jamal Murray, Donovan Mitchell, Devin Booker and Jimmy Butler. Real problem for Russell's scoring efficiency is that he doesn't get much free throws.
I think that more important point than being an all star in Russell's Brooklyn year was that he was clearly the team's best player and was able to get his team to playoffs. That is quite an achievement if you look the rest of the Nets roster that year.
There are a lot of smart guys on this board, but i have to admit the one guy I fear most is Mikkeman...I always feel a cold chill go up my spine when he replies to me.
And once again, you have done the work and come up with 4 players who also don't score very efficiently like DLO...nice work! But can we agree that the players you cite bring things to the table that DLO never will? Butler and Murray for instance are elite defenders. And Booker and Mitchell are at least average defenders (unlike DLO), and while Booker was terribly inefficient early in his career, he is leaving DLO far in the rear view mirror in eFG% recently...54% and 55% the past two years.
My point is this...I judge all-stars on their overall game. Sure, he was the high scorer on a team that was almost .500 in a weak Eastern Conference, and maybe that's enough to become a replacement all-star when Dipo got hurt. But I'd be hard pressed to find another all-star that year with less impressive overall stats than DLO. If raw headline stats is the criteria for elite play, then let's celebrate the 21/5/5.5 Ricky Davis put up in 2002, because those raw numbers are almost identical to DLO's all-star year!