50–40–90 club

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Kyrie Irving, the most recent member of the club.

The 50–40–90 club is an informal statistic used to rate players as excellent shooters in the National Basketball Association (NBA), NBA G League, and Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). It requires a player to achieve the criteria of 50% field goal percentage, 40% three-point field goal percentage and 90% free throw percentage over the course of a regular season, while meeting the minimum thresholds to qualify as a league leader in each category.[1][2]

In NBA, G League, and WNBA history, only 11 players have recorded a 50–40–90 season, nine in the NBA, one in the G League, and one in the WNBA. The most recent player to achieve a 50–40–90 season was Kyrie Irving in 2020–21.[3]

Larry Bird, the first player to accomplish the 50–40–90 achievement, and one of two players to achieve the feat in multiple seasons.

History[]

The 50–40–90 season has only been a possibility since the introduction of the three-point field goal in the 1979–80 NBA season.[1]

Steve Nash and Larry Bird are the only players who have had multiple 50–40–90 seasons. Bird recorded back-to-back 50–40–90 seasons in 1986 and 1987, while Nash recorded four such seasons between 2005 and 2010.[4] Nash narrowly missed a fifth consecutive 50–40–90 season by shooting at 89.9% from the free throw line during the 2006–07 season, one made free throw short of the 90% mark.[5]

Quinn Cook became the first NBA G League player to record a 50–40–90 season in 2018.[6]

Elena Delle Donne became the first WNBA player to record a 50–40–90 season in 2019.[1]

List and calculations[]

NBA[]

Similar to baseball batting averages, official NBA shooting statistics are calculated to the third decimal place (thousandths), but are referred to as percentages. While the NBA officially uses a three-digit number, it reports shooting statistics in a shortened and rounded form as a percentage, so that .899 to the third decimal place is simplified as a two digit "90%" in most of its reporting.[7] Thus, a true 50–40–90 season requires a player to achieve or exceed 50.0 percent field goal efficiency, 40.0 percent three-point field goal efficiency and 90.0 percent free-throw shooting efficiency. As of 2021, the NBA requires a player to make at least 300 field goals, 82 three-pointers, and 125 free throws to be a leader in the respective category. For shortened seasons, stats are prorated to a 82 game season.[8]

Player Season GP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% PTS PPG Ref.
Larry Bird 1986–87 74 786 1,497 53% (.525) 90 225 40% (.400) 414 455 91% (.910) 2,076 28.1 [9]
Larry Bird (2) 1987–88 76 881 1,672 53% (.527) 98 237 41% (.414) 415 453 92% (.916) 2,275 29.9 [9]
Mark Price 1988–89 75 529 1,006 53% (.526) 93 211 44% (.441) 263 292 90% (.901) 1,414 18.9 [10]
Reggie Miller 1993–94 79 524 1,042 50% (.503) 123 292 42% (.421) 403 444 91% (.908) 1,574 19.9 [11]
Steve Nash 2005–06 79 541 1,056 51% (.512) 150 342 44% (.439) 257 279 92% (.921) 1,489 18.8 [5]
Dirk Nowitzki 2006–07 78 673 1,341 50% (.502) 72 173 42% (.416) 498 551 90% (.904) 1,916 24.6 [12]
Steve Nash (2) 2007–08 81 485 962 50% (.504) 179 381 47% (.470) 222 245 91% (.906) 1,371 16.9 [5]
Steve Nash (3) 2008–09 74 428 851 50% (.503) 108 246 44% (.439) 196 210 93% (.933) 1,160 15.7 [5]
Steve Nash (4) 2009–10 81 499 985 51% (.507) 124 291 43% (.426) 211 225 94% (.938) 1,333 16.5 [5]
Kevin Durant 2012–13 81 731 1,433 51% (.510) 139 334 42% (.416) 679 750 91% (.905) 2,280 28.1 [13]
Stephen Curry 2015–16 79 805 1,598 50% (.504) 402 886 45% (.454) 363 400 91% (.908) 2,375 30.1 [14]
Malcolm Brogdon 2018–19 64 378 748 51% (.505) 104 244 43% (.426) 141 152 93% (.928) 1,001 15.6 [15]
Kyrie Irving 2020–21 54 549 1,086 51% (.506) 152 378 40% (.402) 201 218 92% (.922) 1,451 26.9 [16]

NBA G League[]

Player Season GP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% PTS PPG Ref.
Quinn Cook 2017–18 29 269 513 52% (.524) 83 190 44% (.437) 114 120 95% (.950) 735 25.3 [6]

WNBA[]

Player Season GP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% PTS PPG Ref.
Elena Delle Donne 2019 31 220 427 52% (.515) 52 121 43% (.430) 114 117 97% (.974) 606 19.5 [17]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Martin, Brian (September 9, 2019). "WNBA Stats: 50-40-90 Is The Icing On EDD's Historic Season". WNBA.com. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  2. ^ Allen, Scott (September 10, 2019). "'Insane numbers: NBA stars welcome Elena Delle Donne to 50-40-90 club". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  3. ^ Nacion, Chicco (May 16, 2021). "Kyrie becomes 9th NBA player to join 50-40-90 club". theScore. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  4. ^ Matange, Yash (May 16, 2021). "Kyrie Irving joins NBA's all-time 50-40-90 club to cap-off career year as Nets seal East's second seed". Sporting News. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  5. ^ a b c d e "Steve Nash Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  6. ^ a b "Warriors' Quinn Cook becomes first G League player to join 50-40-90 club". SFGate. Retrieved December 16, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ Cohen, Richard M., and Neft, David S.: The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Basketball Edition, St. Martin's Press, 1990.
  8. ^ "Rate Statistic Requirements". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "Larry Bird Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  10. ^ "Mark Price Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  11. ^ "Reggie Miller Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  12. ^ "Dirk Nowitzki Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  13. ^ "Kevin Durant Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  14. ^ "Stephen Curry Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  15. ^ "Malcolm Brogdon Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  16. ^ "Kyrie Irving Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  17. ^ "Elena Delle Donne WNBA Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
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