The Whiteboard: The NBA 50-40-90 club is unfair to volume 3-point shooters

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NBA stat clubs are fun. I don’t mean clubs of people who love NBA stats, although those have an appeal as well. Clubs such as the “averaged a triple-double for a season” club, which only contains Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson, or the 5×5 club, which is also prestigious, are fun to track and make for good trivia.

The 50-40-90 club is another classic. Any player who averages 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range, and 90 percent from the free throw line gets in. It’s very difficult to do at the necessary volume, as evidenced by only seven NBA players achieving the feat: Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Mark Price, Reggie Miller, Dirk Nowitzki, Larry Bird and Steve Nash.

The rule is supposed to reward efficiency, but the increased emphasis on 3-point shooting in recent years has actually warped the intention of the club a bit. Malcolm Brogdon is on pace to join the 50-40-90 club this season, but his field goal percentage is just barely good enough.

Brogdon is shooting 50.7 percent from the field, 42.5 percent from 3, and 93.6 percent from the charity stripe. He’s just barely getting in right now based on that field goal percentage, although he’s fairly safely above the 3-point and free throw marks necessary.

Here’s why that is a problem. Larry Bird shot 52.5 percent from the field, 40.0 percent from 3-point range, and 91.0 percent from the free throw line in his first 50-40-90 campaign. He had a better field goal percentage despite being worse from 3-point range and being tied with Brogdon from 2-point range, as both players shot 54.7 percent from 2.

More of Brogdon’s shots come from beyond the arc, so he needs to shoot better from both areas to match Bird’s field goal percentage. That seems contrary to the point of the 50-40-90 club, which should point out the most efficient players. Brogdon is better from the free throw line and the 3-point line, but if he takes even more 3-pointers at the same rate he could end up dropping out of the club this season even though he’d be better or equal to Bird in 2-point, 3-point and free throw shooting.

Luckily, the fix here is simple. Make the 50 in 50-40-90 refer to 2-point percentage. Keeping it as field goal percentage unnecessarily hurts players who take a lot of 3-pointers, which is encouraged and almost necessary in today’s NBA.

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