Here are some links to what I found to be an interesting set of articles. This guy set out to objectively define what is an NBA superstar and how important having one is to winning a championship.
He start the ranking of superstars (117 in total) with the 1955-1956 NBA season reason being that's when MVP's were handed out. You can find the list of 117 superstars in the first link
He breaks down his ranking with a number of different factors. I'll list them out for those that don't want to read... hopefully I don't forget anything.
MVP
MVP: 16 points
MVP 2nd: 14 points
MVP 3rd: 12 points
MVP 4th: 10 points
MVP 5th: 8 points
MVP 6th-10th: 6 points
MVP 11th-15th: 4 points
All-NBA
First team All-NBA: 10 points
Second team All-NBA: 6 points
Third team All-NBA: 4 points
All-Defense
First team All-Defense: 4 points
Second-team All-Defense: 3 points
Additional two points for the player selected Defensive Player of the Year
I give a single point for every year a player makes an NBA All-Star team for the mid-season game.
He doesn't count the ABA years but attempts to solve this problem by
doing the ranking not by the total number of points accrued during a career, but rather by taking a player’s total number of points and dividing it by the number of seasons they played at least 1,900 minutes. (For the two strike and lockout shortened seasons of 1998-99 and 2011-12, I prorated the minutes.)
by making the number of qualifying seasons at eight for a player to make the top of the list. Those players whose annual totals qualify but who do not have eight qualifying seasons, like Bill Walton, are on the list, but they are ranked after those players who did have eight qualifying seasons.
I keep active players in the main list, under the assumption that they will all eventually get eight qualifying seasons, unless, like Jermaine O’Neal, it is obvious they will never play 1,900 minutes in a season again. Also, guys like Cousy and Sharman who had enough active seasons before 1955-56 to qualify make the main list. No reason to penalize their ranking.
I keep active players in the main list, under the assumption that they will all eventually get eight qualifying seasons, unless, like Jermaine O’Neal, it is obvious they will never play 1,900 minutes in a season again. Also, guys like Cousy and Sharman who had enough active seasons before 1955-56 to qualify make the main list. No reason to penalize their ranking.
I wanted to share this articles because I personally dound it interesting that he was able to put it together. I've never seen something like this so it was a cool read. And it was interesting that every team that has won has had a superstar of some caliber.
I just found it to be a fun read and an interesting take on things everyone debates about when it comes to "what it takes to win a ring." So, what are you guys thoughts on it?
A nice summary for the second article:
All but one of the losers in the NBA Finals since 1955-56 have featured one of these superstars. (The 1970 Bullets, who lost in the Finals, had superstar Wes Unseld as their 2nd best player, and non-superstar Earl Monroe as their best player.) The exception? The 2000 Pacers. So dig this: only one of the 116 teams that have played in the NBA Finals did not have a player from the superstar list in his functional prime. There is more: Eighty percent of the 116 teams that lost in the conference finals over the past 57 years – the first two losers in the NBA’s “final four” so to speak – were led by players from this list.
And that barely begins to capture was a gated community NBA championships live in. The closer to the top of the superstar 95 list, the more likely a player is to being the best player on a championship team. The closer to the bottom of this list of superstars, the more likely the player is on the outside looking in. Fully 107 of the 116 Finals teams had at least a qualifying silver medal superstar as their best player; i.e. basically an all-time top 60 player. And if a team does not have a player is his prime from this list, or soon to be on this list, they have but a slim chance to even make the conference finals, let alone dream about playing in the finals or winning a title.
And that barely begins to capture was a gated community NBA championships live in. The closer to the top of the superstar 95 list, the more likely a player is to being the best player on a championship team. The closer to the bottom of this list of superstars, the more likely the player is on the outside looking in. Fully 107 of the 116 Finals teams had at least a qualifying silver medal superstar as their best player; i.e. basically an all-time top 60 player. And if a team does not have a player is his prime from this list, or soon to be on this list, they have but a slim chance to even make the conference finals, let alone dream about playing in the finals or winning a title.
The seven teams that have won titles without a platinum or gold medal superstar are often called “ensemble” teams because they had a cast where the third or fourth player was not that much worse than the first or second player.
One of the seven “ensemble” champions was led by Rick Barry, and had he spent the five seasons he was out of the NBA pursuing an ABA career from age 23 to age 28 he would certainly be a top-30 gold medal player. So toss that one out.
Two of remaining seven “ensemble” champions—the legendary Bad Boy Pistons of 1989 and 1990—had two silver and one bronze superstar on them. There are no present NBA teams that have two silver and one bronze superstar in their primes on their roster. No one is close. Those were truly great teams.
One of the seven “ensemble” champions was led by Rick Barry, and had he spent the five seasons he was out of the NBA pursuing an ABA career from age 23 to age 28 he would certainly be a top-30 gold medal player. So toss that one out.
Two of remaining seven “ensemble” champions—the legendary Bad Boy Pistons of 1989 and 1990—had two silver and one bronze superstar on them. There are no present NBA teams that have two silver and one bronze superstar in their primes on their roster. No one is close. Those were truly great teams.
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