The rise of the scoring point guard in the NBA

When Scott Brooks was asked recently to be interviewed for a story about the sudden surplus of scoring point guards in the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder coach suggested a better idea.

“You should do a story on nonscoring point guards,” Brooks told the reporter. “I was the last one. And that was just because I couldn’t score.”
Traditional setup men have indeed become scarce in today’s game, giving way to flashier, higher-flying floor leaders who can flat-out score. There are currently more point guards averaging 22 points than there are dishing out at least 10 assists. The Thunder’s Russell Westbrook is one of the three point guards pouring in at least 22 points a night, while Phoenix’s Steve Nash, who is questionable for tonight’s Thunder-Suns game because of a neck injury sustained Friday, is one of only two point guards above 10 assists.

“In this new era of the NBA, guys are not pass-first point guards,” said New Jersey coach Avery Johnson, an NBA point guard for 16 seasons. “Guys are scoring point guards and a lot of guys are converted point guards.”

Rule changes that have favored offensive players are a leading reason for the scoring point guard explosion. The NBA eliminated hand-checking in 1994. Over the next three seasons, eight point guards landed in the top 20 in scoring. Only six had been top-20 scorers in the previous five years.

“I don’t know if you have to have a scoring point guard,” said first-year New Orleans general manager Dell Demps, who inherited a blend of both in Chris Paul, a career 19.1 point-per-game scorer and 10.1 assist-per-game player. “But whenever you’ve got a ballhandler that can get by people, it’s a huge advantage. It’s one of the hardest things to defend. When you got somebody that can get in that lane, they can put a lot of pressure on a defense.”

Golden State point guard Stephen Curry, who is averaging 20.1 points in his second season and hung 39 points on the Thunder two weeks ago, said dual threat guards can be a nightmare for defenses.

“Some teams play it one way. Some teams play it another way,” Curry said. “One night you can have 20 shot attempts. The next night you can have 15 assists. It just depends on what they’re trying to take. You have to be able to use both. It just adds another element that you have to defend.”

“These guys are so athletic now,” Johnson said. “During my time, we played on the ground a lot. Today, they’re so athletic. Westbrook, single-handedly basically, went out and beat Boston without (Kevin) Durant. He has that type of impact on the game.”
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Of the NBA championship teams since 1985, though, only six had starting point guards with a scoring average above 17 points in the regular season. Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Magic Johnson did so three times, Isiah Thomas did it twice with Detroit. Tony Parker with the Spurs in 2006-07 was the last point guard to do it. All three won a Finals MVP.