Here at How To Watch Sports we believe in statistics. And that’s why we’ve created the NBA Spider Graph Generator.
Spider Graphs were developed by HTWS lead writer Roger Pimentel and are a way to quickly compare the styles of two or more NBA players. Want to see how Kevin Durant stacks up against LeBron James outside of just scoring? Want to quickly see which of the Boston Celtics’ Big Three had the most production this season? Spider Graphs are just the thing.
The Generator is free to use, and allows you to save a graph for use on your own site or blog. Try it out. Have some fun with it. It’s online at www.spidergraphs.com.
The NBA Spider Graph Generator contains season data for ever player that played in the NBA going back to the 1993 season, to include the entire career of every active player. That means that in addition to comparing current players, you can bring in players from the past as well.
With so many seasons of data available, it allows some cool comparisons to be made. Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard just announced that he’s going to be training with Hakeem Olajuwon, perhaps the best post player of his respective generation, this summer. Why don’t we compare the two? (click to see it bigger)
It’s easy to see, even at just a glance, where the major difference is between these two players and what Superman could learn from The Dream. Hakeem, with his patented Dream Shake, was as dominant an offensive big man as the league has ever seen—and the graph quickly shows us how he takes Howard to school with appreciably more points and assists per 48 minutes.
Can you imagine Dwight Howard with the Dream Shake? Scary.
For another example, let’s go to little guys. Chris Paul burst into the league a few years ago as the future of the point guard, but his team has regularly failed to measure up to his talents. Is there any other point guard in the league that does quite what Paul does?
There sure is. The biggest strength of Spider Graphs is being able to quickly show a player’s style—and here we have a fairly remarkable match between two players. If you’re wondering what Chris Paul would look like if he played for a contending team, look no further than Rajon Rondo.
They’re a couple of the league’s best set-up men, they’re quick, they get their hands in passing lanes. It’s like they’re clones.
How about, with free agency pending and all of Phoenix wondering if Amare Stoudemire will stay, a comparison of the great Suns power forwards? Amare is an impressive player, but he frankly can’t stack up against Charles Barkley at his MVP best:
And finally, maybe Spider Graphs can help us shed some light on a debate that’s gotten new fire lately. Now that Kobe Bryant his his fifth NBA Championship, can we legitimately start comparing him to Michael Jordan?
My answer will still be no even if Kobe lands a sixth title, but at the very least we can see how they compare in on-court production. An appropriate comparison might be Kobe’s 2010 season and MJ’s 1997 season—that’s when Michael won his fifth title. And while Jordan’s graph still shows better production that Kobe’s in every category but one, it’s probably close enough to give the Kobe fanboys some ammo:
It’s the NBA Spider Graph Generator— check it out. Put your favorite players to the test. And let us know what you come up with.
Wow. This is an awesome tool. I’m lovin the website, great work!