MVPs: 0. Finals MVPs: 0. All-NBA 1st Team: 5. 2nd Team: 2. All Star: 9. MVP: 1.
Defensive POY: 0. All-Defense Teams: 0.
#9 Career PPG.
Points Champ: 4.
Career Averages: 26 PPG/ 5 RPG/ 3 APG/ 1.2 SPG/ .8 BPG/ .513 eFG%/ .844 FT%.
Best Season: 33/ 5/ 3/ 1.4/ 1/ .536/ .852 (1979-80).
Postseason Averages: 27 PPG/ 6 RPG/ 3 APG/ 1.2 SPG/ .9 BPG/ .508 eFG%/ .821 FT%.
Best Postseason: 29/ 6/ 2/ 1.9/ 1/ .536/ .808 (1979).
Championships: 0. Runner-ups: 0.
Why he's below Gary Payton: Gervin only played 10 seasons in the NBA and never made the Finals. His only elite skill was scoring. Most shooting guards have low stats in other categories, but Gervin's are quite a bit lower than the shooting guards I ranked above him. He was also never a good defender, though he did pick up a decent steal and block total.
Why he's above the rest: Scoring was easier in the ABA than the NBA. Most ABA stars had their scoring average drop noticeably when they joined the NBA, but Gervin's jumped. That happened partly because the Spurs changed coaches and offenses, but the offense was built around Gervin's talent. His shooting percentages jumped in the NBA as well, which led to him leading the league in scoring 4 times, tied for 3rd all time. His stats look like those of a volume scorer, but he was actually efficient at his scoring. His era-adjusted eFG% is much higher than other great scorers like Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Dominique Wilkins, or Carmelo Anthony. So that's why I have a volume scorer without playoff success or defense ranked this high: as a scorer he had more in common with Kevin Durant than with any of the volume scorers ranked lower. That's why he was voted to the 1st Team All-NBA 5 times in only 10 seasons and why he finished top-5 in MVP voting 4 times.
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