NBA Veterans and Fine Wine: Both Getting Better with Age

At Sports Analytics Inc, we've observed the NBA first quarter of the season, something that has stood out about how well the NBA veterans have started the season. This year, it seems that the healthiness of the NBA veterans aged over 30 who ranked in the top 100 players in the league by ESPN have improved their efficiency significantly this season. 


One might ask, is this just a coincidence, however at Sports Analytics we take a little deeper look into just why these 10+ year veterans are playing stellar basketball in 2010/11.


Why are these veterans playing such quality basketball?
1. The first hypothesis we have at Sports Analytics is many of these veterans have seen their franchises load their teams with more veterans on deep line-ups that have played multiple years together in their system. This lends itself to prevent 2nd guessing amongst teammates, and enhanced trust across their roster. We've seen this with Boston loading up with veterans which have helped them run on a huge winning streak. We've seen Dallas' success with Marion, Kidd, Butler, Terry, Chandler all teaming up with Nowitzki to have their best start to the season since 2002/03. 


We've seen Orlando make major trades to bring more deep veteran talent into their team to support the younger Dwight Howard. And then you have the mainstays of San Antonio Spurs and the LA Lakers having strong starts to the season. 


2. The ever-increasing reliance on team systems. Coaches are more savvy than ever, drawing up isolation plays, running complicated 2 and 3 man pick and roll games to create mismatches, and enforcing the extra pass to create a free uncontested shot. This is evermore pertinent in systems such as the Lakers' triangle when they comply to the system, with Dallas' two man game, and Boston's inside out game. 


It is correct in saying these two team-oriented drivers are helping the leagues top veteran play better and more efficient basketball but at Sports Analytics Inc we thought we would look at a select set of NBA veterans having their best efficient seasons.

Player	Games	Min	FG%	Reb	Steals	Blocks	Turnovers	Fouls	Assists	Points	PER
Kobe Bryant 2010/11	29	32.9	0.449	5	1.28	0.14	2.83	2.07	4.6	25.7	26.01
Kobe Bryant Career	1050	36.5	0.455	5.3	1.52	0.54	2.92	2.64	4.7	25.3	21.95
Dirk Nowitzki 2010/11	28	36.2	0.554	7.6	0.71	0.82	2.25	2.54	2.4	24.5	25.16
Dirk Nowitzki Career	948	36.7	0.475	8.5	0.91	1.01	1.93	2.59	2.7	23	23.01
Manu Ginobli 2010/11	27	32.2	0.457	3.6	1.78	0.37	2.48	1.74	4.9	19.7	23.9
Manu Ginobli Career	580	28	0.452	4	1.53	0.34	2.1	2.27	3.8	15.2	22.54
Pau Gasol 2010/11	29	38.5	0.515	11.1	0.55	2.03	1.9	2.38	4.2	19.6	23.96
Pau Gasol Career	678	35.9	0.521	9.1	0.54	1.73	2.41	2.36	3.2	18.8	22.97
Steve Nash 2010/11	26	32.5	0.523	3.4	0.62	0.04	3.62	1.08	10.5	17	23.72
Steve Nash Career	1041	31.2	0.49	3	0.76	0.08	2.81	1.71	8.3	14.6	21.67
Lamar Odom  2010/11	29	35.6	0.584	9.9	0.62	0.93	2.24	2.69	3.3	15.9	19.99
Lamar Odom Career	776	35.9	0.467	9	0.94	1.01	2.63	3.2	4.1	14.7	15.98

Player	Age	2009-10 PER	2010-11 PER	PER Rank
Kobe Bryant	32	21.95	26.01	2
Dirk Nowitzki	32	23.01	25.16	3
Manu Ginobili	33	22.54	23.9	11
Pau Gasol	30	22.97	23.96	10
Steve Nash	36	21.67	23.72	13
Kevin Garnett	34	19.51	22.30	18
Shaquille O'Neal	38	17.92	21.05	26
Luis Scola	30	17.22	20.90	29
Brad Miller	34	12.96	20.13	34
Lamar Odom	31	15.98	19.99	36
Elton Brand	31	15.72	19.65	43
Andre Miller	34	18.18	19.02	48

These statistics highlight that the NBA this year has been about developing veteran stacked teams with systems that extend beyond the 2 man game to create a team capable of playing multiple avenues come playoffs. It is this trend in the NBA which has seen a group of top teams (LA Lakers, Miami, Boston, San Antonio, Dallas, Orlando) be the legitimate contenders due to their veteran stacked teams.