MJ’s black ink

Per Game: 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.3 steals, 0.8 blocks

Per 75 Possessions: 30.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.4 steals, 0.8 blocks

Relative True Shooting Percentage: +3.7

Net Rating Swing: N/A

Box Plus/Minus: +8.1

Win Shares per 48 Minutes: .250

In baseball, there’s a simple analytical concept known as Black Ink. MLB.com’s Joe Posnanski explained:

“…Black Ink simply refers to the times when a player leads the league in a category (you know how they will show that number in bold letters in the stats…that’s Black Ink).

“Bill James came up with Black Ink but it’s one of his less involved, more fun inventions. He thought it would be a cool way to predict Hall of Fame chances. He’d give players four points for every time they led the league in something people thought was hugely important, like batting average, homers or RBIs. He’d give three points for something a little bit less regarded like runs scored or hits, two points for stuff like doubles or stolen bases, and one point for the baseline stuff like games played.”

Let’s talk about Jordan’s Black Ink for a moment, shall we?

He led the NBA in:

PER GAME:

• Points per game 10 times
• Steals per game 3 times
• Minutes per game 2 times

TOTAL NUMBERS:

• Points 11 times (as a rookie Jordan scored most points in ’84-’85 season with 28 year old Larry Bird, 31 year old Alex English and 29 year old Dominique Wilkins all behind him)
• Steals 3 times
• Free throw attempts 1 time
• Free throws made 2 times
• 2 point field goal attempts 9 times
• 2 point field goals made 9 times
• Field goal attempts 9 times
• Field goals made 10 times
• Minutes played 3 times

PLAYED ALL 82 GAMES 9 TIMES

ADVANCED STATS:

• Box plus/minus 9 times
• Offensive box plus/minus 9 times
• Defensive box plus/minus 2 times
• Value over replacement player 9 times
• Win shares per 48 minutes 8 times
• Win shares 9 times
• Offensive win shares 8 times
• Usage percentage 8 times
• PER 7 times

PLAYOFFS PER GAME:

• Points per game 10 times
• Steals per game 2 times
• Minutes per game 1 times

PLAYOFFS TOTALS:

• Points 8 times
• Turnovers 2 times
• Steals 2 times
• Free throw attempts 3 time
• Free throws made 3 times
• 2 point field goal attempts 7 times
• 2 point field goals made 7 times
• Field goal attempts 8 times
• Field goals made 7 times
• Minutes played 3 times

PLAYOFFS ADVANCED:

• Box plus/minus 9 times
• Offensive box plus/minus 8 times
• Defensive box plus/minus 1 times
• Value over replacement player 8 times
• Win shares per 48 minutes 5 times
• Win shares 7 times
• Offensive win shares 7 times
• Usage percentage 6 times
• Steal percentage 2 times
• PER 6 times
• Minutes played 2 times

For much of the ’80s and ’90s, he dominated the sport in a way no one had since Wilt.

As far as career leaderboards go, Jordan’s first in points per game (30.1), usage percentage (33.3) and win shares per 48 minutes (.251). He’s second to LeBron in box plus/minus.

He had 6 seasons in which he averaged at least 30 points and 5 assists, tied with Oscar Robertson for the all-time lead. After those two, no one else had more than 3 such seasons.

And of course, Jordan somehow found another level for the playoffs.

On top of his 6–0 record in Finals series, MJ averaged 33.4 points per game in the postseason and led the NBA in playoff points per game in 10 of the 13 years in which he participated.

In the Finals alone, he averaged 33.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game, while shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 36.8 percent from three.

Jordan isn’t just the greatest shooting guard of all time; he’s still the GOAT to most.