The Greatest Ever

We know that no matter how good a player is, winning a championship in a team sport comes down to the team.

Of course.

That said, I wanted to look at the two sports where we have (mostly) definitive greatest ever in the sport, and where those players can have big impacts. Jordan and Gretzky.

Aside: The only year that we have this stat, Gretzky averaged 21 minutes on the ice. Given 6 players at 60 minutes, Gretzky was 5.83% of his team's players.

For his career, Jordan averaged 38 minutes on the floor. Given 5 players at 48 minutes, Jordan was 15.83% of his team's players.

So right off the bat, it would seem that a basketball player has three times the impact on a team as a hockey player.

Jordan

1984: lost first round (Rookie of the Year)
1985: lost first round (to Champion Celtics)
1986: lost first round (to Eastern Champs Celtics)
1987: lost second round (to Eastern Champs Pistons)
1988: lost conf. finals (to Champion Pistons)
1989: lost conf. finals (to Champion Pistons)
1990: Championship
1991: Championship
1992: Championship

1995: Championship
1996: Championship
1997: Championship

2001: age 38 comeback
2002: age 39

Simply incredible. He played 14 seasons. The first six he kept advancing in the playoffs, losing to the best team in their bracket. And then the next six he won the title. And then the last two he came back and showed he still had skill.


Gretzky

joined EDM
1979: lost in preliminary round
1980: lost in first round
1981: lost in division semifinals
1982: lost in Finals
1983: Championship
1984: Championship
1985: lost in division finals
1986: Championship
1987: Championship
trade to LA
1988: lost in division finals
1989: lost in division finals
1990: lost in division finals
1991: lost in division semifinals
1992: lost in Finals
1993: missed playoffs
1994: missed playoffs
trade to STL
1995: lost in conference semifinals
trade to NY
1996: lost in conference semifinals
1997: missed playoffs
1998: missed playoffs

Sort of crazy for how good Gretzky is, and how impressive his records are, that he didn't win more. Winning 4 Cups in 5 years is absolutely impressive. But I think this shows that it's easier for a star to transform a basketball team than a hockey team.