NBA Ball Hog Statistical Rankings: Final Standings

kevin knox
NBA Ball Hog Statistical Rankings: Final Standings
Mar 21, 2019; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Marvin Bagley III (35) shoots the ball during the fourth quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

 

My task was simple enough – I wanted to figure out, statistically, who the biggest ball hog/black hole/teammate from hell/etc. was in the NBA.  With the plethora of stats available today, it shouldn’t be too hard to figure that out, I surmised.  While I was researching what stats I should use – Usage %, Assist % – I stumbled across a now defunct site – Basketball-Statistics – that had already done this back in 2009.  Perfect!

After giving their formula some thought and test drives, it seems to pass muster.  You can check out the formula here, but in summary it takes into account how much a player uses up his team’s possessions (Usage %), how well he shoots (True Shooting %) and how often he sets up his teammates (Assist %).  It also takes into account what position on the court the player plays and adjusts the formula based on the average numbers players playing the same position puts on the board.  So, for a true ball hog, we are looking for a guy with an above average Usage Rate (above 20%) who shoots poorly and doesn’t pass.

The rookies were not shy about chucking this season, with Kevin Knox, Marvin Bagley and Collin Sexton leading the way.  At the other end of the spectrum, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Devin Booker are as anti-ball hog as you can get.

 

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 NBA Ball Hog Statistical Ranking

(only players with a qualifying amount of minutes played included)

Rank Last Ball Hog Score
1 1 Kevin Knox Big 86.4
2 6 Marvin Bagley Big 79.3
3 4 Collin Sexton Point Guard 75.4
4 3 Hassan Whiteside Big 75.2
5 7 Kelly Oubre Wing 73.2
6 5 Andre Drummond Big 66.6
7 10 Jaylen Brown Wing 64.3
8 8 Andrew Wiggins Wing 63.7
9 9 Harrison Barnes Big 62.6
10 12 Jaren Jackson Big 60.0
11 14 Serge Ibaka Big 58.4
11 NR JaVale McGee Big 58.4
13 15 Dennis Schroder Point Guard 57.2
14 17 Klay Thompson Wing 55.7
15 13 Terrence Ross Wing 55.6
16 NR Marcus Morris Big 53.9
17 19 Rondae Hollis-Jefferson Wing 53.7
18 20 Eric Gordon Wing 53.5
19 16 Jayson Tatum Wing 50.7
20 17 Alex Len Big 50.1

 

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