Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James: Pitting the GOATs from age 19 to age 39

HoopsHype does a complete year by year comparison of Michael Jordan and LeBron James from ages 19 through 39, head-to-head style.

As if the GOAT debate hasn’t been beaten into the ground already, we’re going to put a new spin on the Michael Jordan vs. LeBron James discourse today by comparing them head to head for each year of their careers, from age 19 through age 39.

Everybody feel free to cherry-pick the outcome you like the most for use in your GOAT debates, which can be found on the final slide.

Ready to dive into the legendary careers of Jordan and LeBron, year by year? Let’s get started.

Top 50 highest-paid NBA players who never made an All-Star team

HoopsHype lists the Top 50 NBA players who made the most money and never made an All-Star team.

Did you know 45 players in NBA history have made over $100 million without an All-Star appearance?

HoopsHype compiled the 50 highest-paid players without making an All-Star team, combining to earn over $6.3 billion, according to our database.

HoopsHype’s Alberto de Roa contributed research to this report.

Ranking: The highest-paid players in Boston Celtics history

HoopsHype ranks the 12 highest-paid player in the history of the Boston Celtics, led by Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

The Boston Celtics have one of the richest histories of all the NBA teams, with 16 championships to their name and 37 members of the organization currently residing in the Naismith Hall of Fame.

Today, we’re going to take a look at the highest-paid players in Celtics history, a list led by a familiar name surrounded by many current players.

The most overpaid players in the NBA in 2022-23

HoopsHype breaks down the 20 most overpaid players for the 2022-23 season, as judged by our Real Value metric and annual salary.

A few days ago, we discussed the most underpaid players of the 2022-23 season, a list featuring some of the biggest names in the NBA today, including reigning Finals MVP Nikola Jokic, regular-season MVP Joel Embiid and Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic.

Today, we are going to discuss the most overpaid players of this past season as judged by using our Real Value metric, which is explained in full detail here.

To determine the ranking, we looked up the difference between every player’s Real Value and actual salary for 2022-23. In fairness to some of the following players, there are a ton of injury-related overpays on the following list through no fault of the players themselves.

Below, check out the 20 most overpaid players for the 2022-23 NBA season.

The most underpaid players in the NBA in 2022-23

HoopsHype breaks down the 20 most underpaid players for the 2022-23 season, as judged by our Real Value metric and annual salary.

Using our Real Value metric, which is explained in full detail here, we have determined the most underpaid NBA players for the 2022-23 season.

Although you might be expecting to see a list full of players exceeding the expectations of their minimum or mid-level contracts, it’s actually the big-name stars who dominate this list, which shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the difference one superstar can make for a team’s fortunes in the Association.

Even if they’re on a max contract, superstar-level players in the NBA are so important that they can still be considered underpaid, as you’re about to find out.

Below, the 20 most underpaid players in the NBA for 2022-23.

Ranking: The most organically built champions of the century

HoopsHype ranks the most organically built NBA champions of the century who built teams through the draft instead of free agency or trades.

The conversation in the NBA when it comes to how to build a championship-level team often comes down to which way of doing so is better: going big in free agency or building one through the draft?

Of course, it’s not easy for teams in small markets to do the former, as top-level free agents rarely choose them. But champions can be built in the NBA through trades and certain small-market teams have done well lately in amassing draft picks and trading them for established stars. Just look at the Cleveland Cavaliers with Donovan Mitchell and the Oklahoma City Thunder with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as examples.

Today, we have decided to take a look at the most organically built NBA champions of the 21st century. To do so, we broke down the percentage of playoff minutes played by players on each champion who made their NBA debuts with said teams. That includes players drafted by each team and undrafted free-agent pickups.

What’s interesting is despite the flak the Golden State Warriors have gotten for seeming to buy their championships, three of their title-winning teams sit in the Top 4 of this list as some of the most organic champions in recent history.

Meanwhile, some of the weaker champions we’ve had in the past two decades – the 2004 Detroit Pistons, the 2006 Miami Heat and the 2020 Los Angeles Lakers, for example – were mostly made up of free-agent pickups and trades.

At the end of the day, winning a championship is difficult no matter what, with some luck and circumstance always being involved. And although free agency and trades are very important toward building a contender these days, drafting well and being savvy with your assets are also vital.

Look at the 2020 Lakers as an example. Sure, their two top players that year, LeBron James and Anthony Davis, were a free-agent pickup and trade acquisition, respectively. But the latter pickup would have been impossible if the Lakers didn’t do so well in drafting in the years before that, as L.A. draftees Brandon IngramLonzo Ball and Josh Hart were all part of the trade for the Lakers to land Davis.

Finally, before we get into the numbers, it’s fun to note how organically built the champions of yesteryear were. While the most organic champion of the 20th century, the 2021-22 Warriors, had 68.26 percent of their postseason minutes played by players who made their debuts with Golden State, the most organic champion ever, the 1962 Boston Celtics, had a whopping 98.76 percent of their playoff minutes played by Boston draftees.

As for the most organic NBA champion post-induction of the three-point line, that honor belongs to… the 1993 Chicago Bulls, thanks to Michael JordanScottie Pippen and Horace Grant. The ’93 Bulls had 77.48 percent of their 1993 playoff minutes played by players whose first team was Chicago, a far larger number than any champion of the 21st century.

Anyway, here’s the ranking for the 21st century:

Ranking: The youngest cores to win the NBA title in the last 40 years

HoopsHype ranks the 15 youngest cores, judged by top-three players on each team, to win NBA championships. The 2023 Nuggets sit fifth.

The Denver Nuggets just won the NBA title in which the average age of their Top 3 players – Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon – was just 27 years and 170 days the day the Finals came to an end.

That makes the team’s core one of the youngest to conquer a championship in recent NBA history, which bodes extremely well for the team’s future championship hopes.

Our own Alberto de Roa researched the average age of the Top 3 players for each NBA champion since 1983 using our Global Rating metric. For the Nuggets, their combined average age of 27.5 years old makes them the fifth youngest core to win a championship in the last 40 seasons.

It’s interesting to note that all of the championship teams with a younger core than Denver’s this season – the 2015 Golden State Warriors (Stephen CurryKlay ThomsonDraymond Green), the 2001 Los Angeles Lakers (Shaquille O’NealKobe BryantDerek Fisher), the 1991 Chicago Bulls (Michael JordanScottie PippenHorace Grant) and the 2005 San Antonio Spurs (Tim DuncanTony ParkerManu Ginobili) – all won at least one more championship with that same core.

Going back through history to look at other young cores to win championships, the 1979 Seattle SuperSonics (Gus WilliamsJack SikmaDennis Johnson) are the most recent young core younger than Denver’s this year to never win another championship together. They made it to the Western Conference Finals the next year before falling and then traded Johnson to the Boston Celtics not long thereafter.

Below, check out the 15 youngest Top 3 cores to win NBA championships since 1983.

All-NBA Teams: Players who received more money by being selected

All-NBA selections have become a higher-stakes award ever since the new CBA was implemented in 2017. That is due to the introduction of higher maximum salaries for players that either earn All-NBA honors, win Defensive Player of the Year, or MVP …

All-NBA selections have become a higher-stakes award ever since the new CBA was implemented in 2017. That is due to the introduction of higher maximum salaries for players that either earn All-NBA honors, win Defensive Player of the Year, or MVP ahead of their next contract.

Eligible veterans, who aren’t traded after their fourth season, and who earn All-NBA honors in either their seventh or eighth season or their fifth and sixth seasons, become eligible to sign the 35 percent maximum contract reserved for players with 10 years of service. Also, players on their rookie contracts who earn All-NBA honors in their fourth campaign or second and third seasons, become eligible to sign the 30 percent maximum contract reserved for players with at least seven years of service.

This year there is a lot of money on the line with veterans like Jayson Tatum, Pascal Siakam and Jaylen Brown all being able to secure supermax eligibility with an All-NBA selection this season. Ja Morant, meanwhile, has close to $40 million on the line if he isn’t named one of the six All-NBA guards for this year.

Here are the players who have met the criteria for a higher maximum salary in the short history of the newest CBA.

All-Star: The most snubbed players in NBA history

HoopsHype breaks down the 14 players who have gotten the most All-Star snubs in their careers in NBA history.

Thursday’s night All-Star selections were followed by the usual hullabaloo about players being snubbed.

But why get indignant about a mere All-Star selection when you can do the same for picks throughout NBA history? That’s why we set out to find out who are the players who have been most snubbed for All-Star selections.

For this exercise, we looked up the Top 12 players in Global Rating through the All-Star break in each conference in all NBA seasons. (For years in which there were injury replacements, we expanded the list.)

We listed players regardless of position because, honestly, why should the Dale Davises or Jamaal Magloires of the world get one spot at the expense of far more productive players?

Check out the results below.

Who is the second-best shooter in basketball history? We break down the candidates

HoopsHype breaks down 11 candidates to be considered second-best shooter in basketball history behind Stephen Curry, including Ray Allen.

The debate as to who is the NBA’s greatest shooter ever is done and dusted, with Stephen Curry earning the distinction already even with some of his prime still left to go.

The all-time leader in three-pointers made, Curry changed the game with his shooting prowess and ability to hit jumpers from 35 feet out, off the dribble, with defenders in his face, whatever.

That his style of play has not only led to two league MVP awards but four championships only furthers his stronghold on the honor of best shooter in NBA history.

So what we’re here to discuss is: Who is the second-best shooter ever in basketball?

Below, we break down 11 strong candidates