50–40–90 club

Steve Nash achieved the most 50–40–90 seasons in NBA with four.

The 50–40–90 club is an informal term referring to the group of National Basketball Association (NBA) players who have had a shooting percentage at or above 50% for field goals, 40% for three-pointers, and 90% for free throws during an entire NBA regular season while also achieving the NBA minimum number of makes in each category.^[1] 50–40–90 indicates a great all-around shooting performance and is considered the ultimate standard for shooters.^[2] Steve Nash has the most 50–40–90 seasons with four, two more than any other player. Kevin Durant is the most recent player to record a 50-40-90 season.

Members

Since the NBA introduced the three-point field goal in the 1979–80 season, the 50–40–90 shooting threshold has been reached by six players: Steve Nash, Larry Bird, Mark Price, Reggie Miller, Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant.^[2] Nash and Bird are the only players who achieved 50–40–90 in multiple seasons; Bird was the first player to join this club and achieved it twice consecutively while Nash achieved it four times in five seasons.^[3] Nash narrowly missed five consecutive 50–40–90 seasons by shooting at 89.9% from the free throw line for the 2006–07 season, one made free throw short of the 90% mark.^[4]

José Calderón appears on some 50–40–90 club lists for his 52–43–91 shooting during the 2007–08 season. However, that season he only made 109 free throws (16 short of the NBA league minimum required to be considered a leader in this category).^[5] To qualify as a leader in field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage and free-throw percentage, a player has to make at least 300 field goals, 82 three-point field goals (since the 2013-14 season) and 125 free throws.^[6] These values have been used since the 1999–2000 season except in the lockout-shortened 2011–12 season; requirements varied with the schedule length several times before that.^[7] Steve Kerr has been cited as being the only player to ever record a 50–50–90 in the 1995–96 season;^[8] while he does meet (and indeed exceed, shooting 51–51–93) the corresponding percentage values, he did not meet the minimum requirements for field goals or free throws taken (see table below) for the feat to be recognized officially.^[8] Kyle Korver nearly had a 50–50–90 season for the 2014–15 season; however, he came slightly short in each category (49, 49, 90 after rounding), and did not shoot enough free throws.^[9]

Terminology

Similar to baseball batting averages, official NBA shooting percentages are computed to the third decimal place (thousandths), but is referred to in a "percentage", rather than "permillage" like in baseball. A player who shot .8995 on free throws would be officially computed as shooting .900 and referred to as a 90% (or 90.0%) shooter. While the significant number is the same for the two sports, a baseball player with a batting average of .300 is referred to as a "three hundred hitter".

Calculating

In order to calculate basketball shooting percentages to the second decimal place, the official three digit percentages are shortened and rounded to the second decimal point. Thus, a shooting percentage listed as .899 to the third decimal place in the NBA's official shooting statistics is shortened and rounded to "90%" when a two digit number is used to designate the shooting percentage.^[10] Note that shooting statistics throughout rounded to second decimal.

This rounding to the second digit has pertinence regarding several 50–40–90 seasons in that four times a player who did not actually reach the .500 or .900 threshold appeared to shoot 50% and 90%. In the 1985–86 season, Larry Bird officially shot .496–.423–.896, which becomes 50–42–90 when converted to two digit numbers,^[10][11] in the 1990–91 season Jeff Hornacek officially shot .518–.418–.897, which becomes 52–42–90,^[12] in the 2006–07 season Steve Nash shot .532–.455–.899 which converts to 53–45–90,^[4] and in the 2008–09 season José Calderón shot .497–.406–.981 which converts to 50–41–98.^[5]

50–40–90 seasons

50–40–90 after rounding

Some players missed the 50–40–90 mark by finishing slightly under the .500 field goal percentage or .900 free throw percentage, even though they had 50% and 90% percentage value by virtue of the rounding to the second digit. Some players reached the 50–40–90 mark but failed to make enough field goals or free throws in order to qualify as the league leaders (300 field goals, 55 three-point field goals and 125 free throws). The following table shows those players who nearly achieved the 50–40–90 (the statistical categories in which they fell short are highlighted and marked with asterisks).

50–40–90 near misses

Some players missed the 50–40–90 mark by finishing slightly under the .500 field goal percentage, the .400 three-point percentage or the .900 free throw percentage, even after rounding to the second digit. The following table shows those players who came close (within 1 percentage point) to achieving the 50–40–90 (the statistical categories in which they fell short are highlighted and marked with asterisks).

50–40–90 criteria misses

Some players missed one of the 50–40–90 club lists above by finishing the season without meeting the needed minimum figures, which have strongly varied over the decades,^[7] to be considered a statistical season leader in the respective category that particular year. The miss can also include one or more "near misses" added to the shortfelt numbers (the statistical categories in which they fell short are highlighted and marked with asterisks). The minimum requirements to be listed are: 50% of the needed made shots in at least 2 of the 3 categories.

References

Specific

General