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Player profile · BOS / NYK / PHO / SEA
Paul Westphal
Paul Westphal stats, teams and career impact
#75 all-timeCareer averages · 15.6 PPG · 1.9 RPG · 4.4 APGPeak-weighted regular-season model · playoffs, awards, and championships excluded
- Position
- Shooting guard
- Final NBA team
- Phoenix Suns
- Height / weight
- 6 ft 4 in (193 cm) · 195 lb (88 kg)
- Born
- November 30, 1950
- Died
- January 2, 2021 (70 yrs old)
- College
- USC
- NBA seasons
- 12 seasons · 1972–73 to 1983–84
Career summaryPaul Westphal was a shooting guard who played 12 NBA seasons, from 1972–73 through 1983–84.
- Career PPG
- 15.6
- Career RPG
- 1.9
- Career APG
- 4.4
- #3 in 1977–78
- #75 all-time
Best-Season Impact Rank
Career Impact Rank
Peak-weighted regular-season model · playoffs, awards, and championships excluded
Career overview
Why Paul Westphal ranks #75 all time
Paul Westphal ranks #75 all time. 5 top-ten finishes give him a sustained run near the top of the league. His full-career value ranks #143, so this placement is driven more by dominance than longevity.
5 top-ten finishes
823 games · Career Value Rank #143
NBA honors5× All-Star · 4× All-NBAContext only; honors are not model inputs.
Head to head
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Full player detailsTeam history, career shooting and sources
Full team history
- Teams
- Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, Seattle SuperSonics, and New York Knicks
Career shooting
NBA regular season- Field goal
- 50.4%FG%
- Three-point
- 27.5%3P%
- Free throw
- 82.0%FT%
823 career games · 20,947 minutes
Sources and updateConventional stats and measurements: Basketball Reference, accessed Sep 13, 2026. hussEyquation ranking data through 2025–26. Life dates: Wikidata; conflicting dates checked against Basketball Reference, accessed Sep 17, 2026.
Traditional box score
Paul Westphal stats by season
Start with scoring and impact, then switch views for shooting or the full advanced picture. Career percentages use total makes and attempts.
Swipe for PPG · RPG · APG · Impact · Team · G · GS · MPG →
| 1983–84 | 7.0 | 0.7 | 2.5 | -0.90 | PHO | 59 | 2 | 14.7 | 46.0% | 26.9% | 82.4% | #139 | 20.1 |
| 1982–83 | 10.0 | 1.4 | 5.5 | -0.03 | NYK | 80 | 59 | 24.7 | 45.9% | 29.2% | 80.4% | #107 | 78.7 |
| 1981–82 | 11.7 | 1.2 | 5.6 | -1.51 | NYK | 18 | 12 | 25.1 | 44.3% | 25.0% | 76.6% | #178 | 4.6 |
| 1980–81 | 16.7 | 1.9 | 4.1 | +0.97 | SEA | 36 | 0 | 29.9 | 44.2% | 24.0% | 83.2% | #67 | 66.9 |
| 1979–80 | 21.9 | 2.3 | 5.1 | +3.99 | PHO | 82 | 82 | 32.5 | 52.5% | 28.0% | 86.2% | #7 | 348.7 |
| 1978–79 | 24.0 | 2.0 | 6.5 | +3.94 | PHO | 81 | 0 | 32.6 | 53.5% | — | 83.7% | #8 | 354.8 |
| 1977–78 | 25.2 | 2.0 | 5.5 | +5.47 | PHO | 80 | 0 | 31.0 | 51.6% | — | 81.3% | #3 | 430.3 |
| 1976–77 | 21.3 | 2.3 | 5.7 | +4.28 | PHO | 81 | 0 | 32.1 | 51.8% | — | 82.5% | #7 | 362.9 |
| 1975–76 | 20.5 | 3.2 | 5.4 | +3.74 | PHO | 82 | 0 | 36.1 | 49.4% | — | 83.0% | #9 | 373.5 |
| 1974–75 | 9.8 | 2.0 | 2.9 | +2.49 | BOS | 82 | 0 | 19.3 | 51.0% | — | 76.3% | #14 | 156.9 |
| 1973–74 | 7.2 | 1.7 | 2.1 | +1.20 | BOS | 82 | 0 | 14.2 | 50.1% | — | 73.2% | #35 | 85.5 |
| 1972–73 | 4.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 | -0.01 | BOS | 60 | 0 | 8.0 | 42.0% | — | 77.9% | #64 | 22.8 |
| Career | 15.6 | 1.9 | 4.4 | — | BOS/NYK/PHO/SEA | 823 | — | 25.5 | 50.4% | 27.5% | 82.0% | — | — |
Source: Basketball Reference regular-season totals, accessed Sep 13, 2026.
Film evidence
Paul Westphal highlights
Watch the selected footage or film analysis, then use the season record and impact data to put what happened on the floor in context.
Career retrospective
Paul Westphal Hall of Fame career retrospective
The Hall of Fame feature captures Westphal's creative guard scoring and decision-making during Phoenix's rise in the late 1970s.
What these measures mean
- Era-centered box impact
- Estimated points per 100 possessions above that season's league average.
- Impact Rate Rank
- The player's place among qualified players in one season.
- Value contribution / Season Value
- Completed seasons use a fixed-baseline contribution to Career Value. The live season instead uses Season Value, combining that season's impact with workload.
- Career Impact Rank
- An all-time rank weighted toward the player's best three, five, and ten seasons.
11.3 composite · lower is better
6.8 average league finish
2,306 total value
Career standing
How Paul Westphal ranks all time
These are league placements, not raw scores. Each season is judged against that season's qualified player pool.
Best in the league
Elite finishes
Upper-tier finishes
Tie-breaker across top-ten seasons
Career Composite Score11.3
Best 3, Best 5, and Best 10 average league finishes receive 50%, 30%, and 20% window weights. Missing seasons receive a replacement finish just below the player's typical qualified field. Lower is better.
- Best 3 effective weight
- 74%
- Missing-season finish
- 235.5
- Qualified seasons
- 12
- All-time rank
- #75
Strongest seasons
Every season
Paul Westphal advanced stats by season
Era-centered box impact supports comparisons through time. Impact Rate and its rank compare players only within that season.
More advanced statsAge, minutes, impact, rank, value and data coverage
Scroll for more columns
| 1983–84Historical Defense Estimate | PHO | 33 | 59 | 865 | -0.90 | 44.4 | #139 | 20.1 | 38th | Standard |
| 1982–83Historical Defense Estimate | NYK | 32 | 80 | 1,978 | -0.03 | 58.1 | #107 | 78.7 | 63rd | Broad |
| 1981–82Historical Defense Estimate | NYK | 31 | 18 | 451 | -1.51 | 30.3 | #178 | 4.6 | 25th | Standard |
| 1980–81Historical Defense Estimate | SEA | 30 | 36 | 1,078 | +0.97 | 73.4 | #67 | 66.9 | 56th | Broad |
| 1979–80Historical Defense Estimate | PHO | 29 | 82 | 2,665 | +3.99 | 97.4 | #7 | 348.7 | 96th | Broad |
| 1978–79Historical Defense Estimate | PHO | 28 | 81 | 2,641 | +3.94 | 96.9 | #8 | 354.8 | 97th | Broad |
| 1977–78Historical Defense Estimate | PHO | 27 | 80 | 2,481 | +5.47 | 99.2 | #3 | 430.3 | 99th | Broad |
| 1976–77Historical Defense Estimate | PHO | 26 | 81 | 2,600 | +4.28 | 97.5 | #7 | 362.9 | 98th | Broad |
| 1975–76Historical Defense Estimate | PHO | 25 | 82 | 2,960 | +3.74 | 95.7 | #9 | 373.5 | 97th | Broad |
| 1974–75Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 24 | 82 | 1,581 | +2.49 | 93.0 | #14 | 156.9 | 79th | Broad |
| 1973–74Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 23 | 82 | 1,165 | +1.20 | 80.7 | #35 | 85.5 | 61st | Broad |
| 1972–73Historical Defense Estimate | BOS | 22 | 60 | 482 | -0.01 | 63.4 | #64 | 22.8 | 40th | Modeled |
Career movement
Paul Westphal's career impact by season
Peak +5.47 in 1977–78 · 12 seasons · 20,947 minutes
The same historical box-score model is used for every season, making the career shape comparable through time. The vertical scale adapts to this player's range and always includes zero.
Era-centered box impactMinutesModeled estimate
Player-specific impact scaleWorkload
Career comparison
Compare the shape, not the calendar
Align by NBA experience to compare season one with season one, or by age to compare players at the same stage of life.
Paul WestphalSidney Moncrief
| NBA season | Paul Westphal | Sidney Moncrief |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | -0.0 | 2.1 |
| 2 | 1.2 | 3.9 |
| 3 | 2.5 | 4.8 |
| 4 | 3.7 | 5.6 |
| 5 | 4.3 | 4.2 |
| 6 | 5.5 | 4.4 |
| 7 | 3.9 | 4.2 |
| 8 | 4.0 | 1.7 |
| 9 | 1.0 | 1.5 |
| 10 | -1.5 | 2.1 |
| 11 | -0.0 | -0.8 |
| 12 | -0.9 | Did not play |
NBA season number
Similar career arcs
Players with careers similar to Paul Westphal
The career-similarity score compares era-centered box impact, peak, prime, workload, career length, position, and experience-aligned trajectory. It describes career shape, not playing style, equal ability, or probability.
SG · All-Time Career #64
Sidney Moncrief
92career similarity score
94/100 closest-season score · 1977–78 ↔ 1982–83PG · All-Time Career #103Doc Rivers
92career similarity score
92/100 closest-season score · 1977–78 ↔ 1987–88PG · All-Time Career #177Kemba Walker
91career similarity score
92/100 closest-season score · 1977–78 ↔ 2016–17Impact Rate shows how strong a player was compared with everyone else that season. Season Value adds how much he played; completed player-profile rows instead show each season's fixed-baseline contribution to Career Value. Career Impact Rank rewards a high peak, a long prime, and repeated seasons near the top. Older seasons use clearly labeled estimates where the NBA did not record today's full set of statistics. Read how every ranking works →