Last updated Jul 22, 2026
NBA impact data · 1950–51 to present
1971–72 NBA Player Rankings
Advanced NBA stats and player impact rankings for the 1971–72 regular season.
1971–72 Impact Rate rankings
A backtested impact estimate from the statistics recorded in that era, with uncertainty ranges.
| Compare | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100.0 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | MIL | C | 24 | 81 | — | 44.2 | 3,583 | 29.9 | 25.4 | 0.340 | — | — | |
| 2 | 99.4 | Walt Frazier | NYK | PG | 26 | 77 | 77 | 40.6 | 3,126 | 21.6 | 14.5 | 0.223 | — | — | |
| 3 | 98.8 | Wilt Chamberlain | LAL | C | 35 | 82 | — | 42.3 | 3,469 | 18.5 | 15.8 | 0.219 | — | — | |
| 4 | 98.2 | Jerry West | LAL | PG | 33 | 77 | — | 38.6 | 2,973 | 23.1 | 13.3 | 0.216 | — | — | |
| 5 | 97.6 | John Havlicek | BOS | SF | 31 | 82 | — | 45.1 | 3,698 | 20.1 | 12.4 | 0.162 | — | — | |
| 6 | 97.0 | Chet Walker | CHI | SF | 31 | 78 | — | 33.2 | 2,588 | 21.8 | 14.5 | 0.268 | — | — | |
| 7 | 96.3 | Jerry Lucas | NYK | C | 31 | 77 | 68 | 38.0 | 2,926 | 19.5 | 11.2 | 0.184 | — | — | |
| 8 | 95.7 | Clifford Ray | CHI | C | 23 | 82 | — | 22.8 | 1,872 | 17.3 | 8.7 | 0.222 | — | — | |
| 9 | 95.1 | Billy Cunningham | PHI | SF | 28 | 75 | 75 | 38.7 | 2,900 | 21.3 | 8.3 | 0.137 | — | — | |
| 10 | 94.5 | Elvin Hayes | HOU | C | 26 | 82 | — | 42.2 | 3,461 | 19.4 | 7.3 | 0.101 | — | — | |
| 11 | 93.9 | Tom Boerwinkle | CHI | C | 26 | 80 | — | 25.3 | 2,022 | 15.9 | 7.4 | 0.175 | — | — | |
| 12 | 93.3 | Connie Hawkins | PHO | SF | 29 | 76 | — | 36.8 | 2,798 | 18.7 | 9.6 | 0.165 | — | — | |
| 13 | 92.7 | Wes Unseld | BAL | C | 25 | 76 | — | 41.7 | 3,171 | 16.7 | 8.3 | 0.125 | — | — | |
| 14 | 92.1 | Bob Lanier | DET | C | 23 | 80 | — | 38.6 | 3,092 | 23.1 | 8.4 | 0.130 | — | — | |
| 15 | 91.5 | Dave Cowens | BOS | C | 23 | 79 | — | 40.3 | 3,186 | 17.1 | 10.4 | 0.156 | — | — | |
| 16 | 90.9 | Paul Silas | PHO | PF | 28 | 80 | — | 38.5 | 3,082 | 18.3 | 11.0 | 0.172 | — | — | |
| 17 | 90.2 | Nate Thurmond | GSW | C | 30 | 78 | — | 43.1 | 3,362 | 18.7 | 9.0 | 0.128 | — | — | |
| 18 | 89.6 | Art Williams | BOS | PG | 32 | 81 | — | 16.4 | 1,326 | 14.7 | 4.4 | 0.159 | — | — | |
| 19 | 89.0 | Lou Hudson | ATL | SG | 27 | 77 | — | 39.5 | 3,042 | 19.1 | 9.7 | 0.154 | — | — | |
| 20 | 88.4 | Jeff Mullins | GSW | SG | 29 | 80 | — | 40.2 | 3,214 | 18.0 | 9.9 | 0.148 | — | — | |
| 21 | 87.8 | Lenny Wilkens | SEA | PG | 34 | 80 | — | 37.4 | 2,989 | 20.3 | 9.6 | 0.154 | — | — | |
| 22 | 87.2 | Norm Van Lier | CIN / CHI | PG | 24 | 79 | — | 30.6 | 2,415 | 16.0 | 7.7 | 0.152 | — | — | |
| 23 | 86.6 | Dale Schlueter | POR | C | 26 | 81 | — | 33.2 | 2,693 | 15.8 | 6.3 | 0.112 | — | — | |
| 24 | 86.0 | Larry Steele | POR | SG | 22 | 72 | — | 18.2 | 1,311 | 10.9 | 1.6 | 0.057 | — | — | |
| 25 | 85.4 | Jerry Sloan | CHI | SG | 29 | 82 | — | 37.0 | 3,035 | 13.4 | 7.2 | 0.114 | — | — | |
| 26 | 84.8 | Don Chaney | BOS | SG | 25 | 79 | — | 28.8 | 2,275 | 12.5 | 6.3 | 0.132 | — | — | |
| 27 | 84.1 | Oscar Robertson | MIL | PG | 33 | 64 | — | 37.3 | 2,390 | 18.9 | 8.3 | 0.167 | — | — | |
| 28 | 83.5 | Tiny Archibald | CIN | PG | 23 | 76 | — | 43.1 | 3,272 | 23.0 | 12.9 | 0.189 | — | — | |
| 29 | 82.9 | Calvin Murphy | HOU | PG | 23 | 82 | — | 31.0 | 2,538 | 18.1 | 8.3 | 0.157 | — | — | |
| 30 | 82.3 | Rudy Tomjanovich | HOU | PF | 23 | 78 | — | 34.5 | 2,689 | 16.6 | 8.4 | 0.150 | — | — | |
| 31 | 81.7 | Walt Bellamy | ATL | C | 32 | 82 | — | 38.9 | 3,187 | 19.0 | 10.3 | 0.155 | — | — | |
| 32 | 81.1 | Bill Bridges | ATL / PHI | PF | 32 | 78 | 62 | 35.3 | 2,756 | 15.3 | 6.5 | 0.113 | — | — | |
| 33 | 80.5 | Bob Kauffman | BUF | PF | 25 | 77 | — | 41.6 | 3,205 | 17.7 | 8.0 | 0.119 | — | — | |
| 34 | 79.9 | Archie Clark | PHI / BAL | PG | 30 | 77 | 1 | 42.7 | 3,285 | 20.5 | 11.0 | 0.160 | — | — | |
| 35 | 79.3 | Gail Goodrich | LAL | SG | 28 | 82 | — | 37.1 | 3,040 | 20.1 | 12.3 | 0.194 | — | — | |
| 36 | 78.7 | Dave DeBusschere | NYK | PF | 31 | 80 | 80 | 38.4 | 3,072 | 15.0 | 4.8 | 0.075 | — | — | |
| 37 | 78.0 | Cazzie Russell | GSW | SF | 27 | 79 | — | 36.7 | 2,902 | 17.3 | 7.3 | 0.120 | — | — | |
| 38 | 77.4 | Jack Marin | BAL | SF | 27 | 78 | — | 37.5 | 2,927 | 18.2 | 9.1 | 0.149 | — | — | |
| 39 | 76.8 | Sidney Wicks | POR | PF | 22 | 82 | — | 39.6 | 3,245 | 19.2 | 2.3 | 0.034 | — | — | |
| 40 | 76.2 | John Johnson | CLE | SF | 24 | 82 | — | 37.1 | 3,041 | 15.4 | 4.6 | 0.073 | — | — | |
| 41 | 75.6 | Clem Haskins | PHO | PG | 28 | 79 | — | 31.1 | 2,453 | 15.4 | 6.8 | 0.133 | — | — | |
| 42 | 75.0 | Butch Beard | CLE | PG | 24 | 68 | — | 35.8 | 2,434 | 15.7 | 5.9 | 0.115 | — | — | |
| 43 | 74.4 | Dave Sorenson | CLE | PF | 23 | 76 | — | 15.3 | 1,162 | 14.6 | 2.1 | 0.086 | — | — | |
| 44 | 73.8 | Stu Lantz | HOU | SG | 25 | 81 | — | 38.2 | 3,097 | 15.0 | 7.4 | 0.114 | — | — | |
| 45 | 73.2 | Bingo Smith | CLE | SF | 25 | 82 | — | 33.3 | 2,734 | 13.5 | 3.3 | 0.057 | — | — | |
| 46 | 72.6 | Don Nelson | BOS | PF | 31 | 82 | — | 25.4 | 2,086 | 17.7 | 8.8 | 0.202 | — | — | |
| 47 | 72.0 | Bob Weiss | CHI | PG | 29 | 82 | — | 29.9 | 2,450 | 12.4 | 5.6 | 0.110 | — | — | |
| 48 | 71.3 | Gary Gregor | POR | SF | 26 | 82 | — | 28.9 | 2,371 | 12.7 | 1.4 | 0.029 | — | — | |
| 49 | 70.7 | Happy Hairston | LAL | PF | 29 | 80 | — | 34.4 | 2,748 | 15.7 | 9.2 | 0.161 | — | — | |
| 50 | 70.1 | Spencer Haywood | SEA | PF | 22 | 73 | — | 43.4 | 3,167 | 19.7 | 8.7 | 0.131 | — | — |
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Season summary
1971–72 NBA advanced stats leaders
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ranks first in 1971–72 Impact Rate at 100.0, ahead of Walt Frazier by 0.6 points. The ranking compares 50 qualified players within this season.
- #1Kareem Abdul-Jabbar100.0
- #2Walt Frazier99.4
- #3Wilt Chamberlain98.8