When Sports Illustrated released their list of the Top 100 NBA Players of 2016 last week, the resulting mass disagreement was a given. Those kinds of rankings always draw commentary out of pundits, fans, and players alike, as they all argue for or against where just about every player on (or off) the list should have been placed.
One such argument in this case came from Boston Celtics guard, felt disrespected by his ranking of number 88 among all current NBA players. He's been vowing to prove people wrong about a great number of things since all 5'9" of him was drafted with the last pick (60th overall) in the 2011 NBA Draft, so his dissatisfaction should come as no surprise. Thomas went a little further, however, by saying that he not only wanted to prove the rankings wrong, but that he also wanted to be considered "the best little guy to ever play the game of basketball" by the time all is said and done on his career:
"Allen Iverson. Isiah Thomas -- the older one. Nate 'Tiny' Archibald. There's a lot of them. But I want to be the best guy to ever play under 6-foot. That's a goal of mine and I'm going to try to reach that."
Each of the players he mentioned above are indeed 6'0" or taller, so it seems as though he's not expecting to compete with the careers of those particular legends of the sport. When it comes to guys under 6'0", however, where exactly does Thomas rank so far and is his goal even realistic?
As discussed in last week's piece, Nate Robinson) and 29,106 (Damon Stoudamire) minutes in their careers.
If you wanted to look at metrics that average contributions by minutes played, Thomas definitely belongs in the upper echelon of "little guys:"
| Category | Career Average | Rank Among Players ≤ 6'0" |
|---|---|---|
| Player Efficiency Rating | 19.1 | 2nd |
| Win Shares Per 48 Minutes | .139 | 3rd |
| Box Plus/Minus | 1.3 | 4th |
The only player who ranks above him on all three of the above lists is Terrell Brandon -- a 5'11" NBA vet of 11 seasons and two All-Star selections, that split his career between Cleveland, Milwaukee, and Minnesota between 1991 and 2002.
For the record, Thomas' numbers after four seasons are comparable to (and perhaps even better than) what Brandon's were at the same point in his career:
| Player | Years | MIN | PTS | AST | STL | FG% | 3P% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terrell Brandon | 1991 to 1995 | 22.2 | 9.3 | 4.1 | 1.2 | 44.2% | 31.7% |
| Isaiah Thomas | 2011 to 2015 | 28.3 | 15.6 | 4.7 | 1.0 | 44.1% | 36.3% |
Other contenders for the title of "best little best little guy ever to play the game of basketball" that come to mind are Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy (all-time leader in WS among players shorter than 6'0" with 84.1) and Muggsy Bogues (the shortest player ever to make the NBA at 5'3" and fifth on the WS list at 54.0). While both rank very high in most cumulative metrics, Thomas is currently ahead of both of them in all three of the aforementioned per-minute ones (Player Efficiency Rating, Win Shares Per 48 Minutes, and Box Plus/Minus).
In total, only 30 players in NBA history that measure under 6'0" have made the league and played over 200 career games. Thomas -- at 5'9" and with 283 games played -- has likely already proven a lot of his doubters wrong by joining that tiny group (pun totally intended).
To be considered in the same class as Brandon, Murphy, and Bogues, though, he'll have to build on the success he's had so far over the span of his whole career. His numbers to date suggest that he's on that path, but continuing to defy the odds as an undersized guy in a game historically dominated by the giants among us over a full decade or more will be no small feat.
Ok, I'll stop.