Another interesting stat is that people think Rondo stat pads in the playoffs. I completely disagree with that statement, but a reddit user posted some factual information.
I decided to take a look at the rate at which certain active and all-time tripdub greats convert near triple doubles into the real thing - with the hypothesis that more selfish players would have a higher rate of conversion. Below is a list of all players with at least 10 triple doubles since 1985, using only PTS, REBS and ASTS (I deemed these the most chasable stats) along with the rate at which they converted them:
Rank Player Triple Doubles 3x9s Conversion Rate
1. Rajon Rondo 19 27 70.4%
2. Fat Lever 42 64 65.6%
3. Grant Hill 29 46 63%
4. Antoine Walker 15 24 62.5%
5. Darrell Walker 15 24 62.5%
6. Magic Johnson 69 112 61.6%
7. Jason Kidd 107 177 60.5%
8. Chris Webber 22 37 59.5%
9. Mark Jackson 18 31 58.1%
10. Gary Payton 15 26 57.7%
11. Kevin Johnson 12 21 57.1%
12. Michael Jordan 25 46 54.3%
13. LeBron James 37 70 52.9%
14. Kobe Bryant 19 36 52.8%
15. Lamar Odom 12 23 52.2%
16. Alvin Robertson 13 26 50%
17. Chris Paul 11 22 50%
18. Larry Bird 31 65 47.7%
19. Charles Barkley 20 42 47.6%
20. Clyde Drexler 21 46 45.7%
21. Baron Davis 10 22 45.5%
22. Scottie Pippen 17 49 34.7%
23. Kevin Garnett 16 51 31.4%
Average 26 47 54.7%
What I was expecting to find was that James converts at a historically low rate, because he seems to have a near triple double almost every game (I am sure the data would suggest that if the thresholds were lowered to 8, but then it would relate less to chasing stats than simply being well rounded). I found instead that he was incredibly average.
Rondo on the other hand, has a historically high conversion rate. There are always anomolies when dealing with samples of this size, but given his reputation as a stat chaser, I think that this is fairly indicative. Same goes for Antoine Walker.
Not surprisingly, some guys with reputations of being obsessed with winning are near the bottom: Garnett, Pippen, Bird, Paul. Again, a name like Baron Davis makes me realize that there is a good bit of noise in this data, but I still find it interesting.
At the risk of further decreasing sample size, I looked at anyone with at least 4 triple doubles (again, PTS, AST, REBs) in the last 3 years, and their conversion rates:
Rank Player Triple Doubles 3x9s Conversion Rate
1. Stephenson 5 5 100%
2. Curry 4 5 80%
3. Rondo 12 17 70.6%
4. Durant 6 9 66.7%
5. Batum 4 7 57.1%
6. Noah 6 11 54.5%
7. Lowry 4 8 50%
8. James 5 14 35.7%
Average 6 10 60.5%
Even though the samples are smaller, I think that (confirmation bias aside) this list is very indicative of stat-chasing habits. Lance has never had a game with 9 point, 9 rebounds and 9 assists that wasn't a triple double. That's pretty significant considering the average conversion rate is 60.5%. It is also not surprising, as Lance has turned stat chasing into performance art this season. Again, Rondo comes out on the high end, while guys with unselfish reputations such as Noah, Lowry and a matured James are well below the average.
To reiterate, I know there is a ton of noise in these figures, but I found them pretty interesting none-the-less and figured I would share them.
TL;DR: Despite some small sample sizes and lots of noise, data supports the notion that Rondo and Lance Stephenson like to chase triple doubles, while guys like Noah, Garnett and LeBron aren't as concerned with that particular stat.
When people start talking about motivations they really go off the reservation. Rondo plays through a dislocated elbow to try and win a playoff series and he's obsessed with padding stats and not winning. Scottie Pippen refuses to go into a playoff game because someone besides him was going to shoot the ball and he's obsessed with winning and not stats. It's just hogwash.
Oh yeah, I disagree with any of the statements that Rondo stat pads in the playoffs...
Hes a competitor day in and day out. I remember he had like what 6 pts, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists in the first 4 minutes of Game 2 or 3 against the Heat?
what I disagree with is the correlation that just because someone had a triple double that it's stat-padding. if the research also accounted for those triple-doubles where the player exceeded 10 in each category, that might have some meaning. some players do it just to do it. others achieve it because they're well-rounded players. I feel Rondo fits that second category.
Now assist padding, that's a different story because I do feel he pads that stat but it can have the side benefit of getting teammates hustling for that easy basket. personally I'd prefer he just make the easy/sure basket than make an unnecessary pass to get the assist. trying to get that assist has backfired on several occasions.
