Editor’s note: list counts down from best to worst. 

12) Eddy Curry, field goal percentage, ’02-’03

Though he’s the subject of many a punch line for his conditioning (or lack thereof), locker room poisoning, and self-serving play, one thing you can’t deny about Curry is that in his prime he could put the ball in the basket at an incredibly efficient rate. Despite entering the NBA at age 18, Curry came to the Bulls with a mature set of offensive skills. He shot an impressive 54% or higher from the field four times in his early career, including a league-leading 58.5% in just his second season in the league. To be fair, that is one of the lower shooting percentages to lead the league in the modern era, and the league leader these days regularly tops out above 70%. Curry continued to shoot well from the field throughout his career, even as an early lack of focus and a later discovered genetic heart condition kept him from reaching full potential.

11) Ernie DiGregorio, assists per game, ’73-’74; free throw percentage, ’73-’74 and ’76-’77

With an exciting playmaking style, DiGregorio took the NBA by storm in his rookie ’73-’74 season, but then disappeared almost as fast. He led the league in assists per game (8.2) and free throw percentage (90.2%) in his first season, earning him Rookie of the Year. But DiGregorio would never fully recover from a knee injury suffered in his second season, which left him so flat-footed later in his career that his nickname “Ernie D” was sarcastically altered to “Ernie No D.” One skill he held on to was foul line shooting, and DiGregorio not only led the league in free throw percentage again in ’76-’77, but broke Bill Sharman’s single season record by hitting at a 94.5% clip (that total still stands as the ninth highest of all time). After later failed stints with the Celtics and Lakers, DiGregorio retired in 1978 at the age of 27.

10) Gheorghe Muresan, field goal percentage, ’95-’96 and ’96-’97

It comes a little surprise that the tallest player in NBA history could accurately put the ball in the hoop. Muresan towered over most opponents at 7’7″ but still struggled early in his NBA career. After a one year side quest in the French league, he returned a seemingly new player. Muresan was named Most Improved Player for the ’95-’96 after averaging 14.5 points and 9.6 rebounds per game, while shooting a league leading 58.4% from the field. He was even more efficient for the Bullets in ’96-’97, becoming just the 10th player in NBA history to shoot 60%+ from the field in a single season. As befitting a man of his size, Muresan struggled to remain healthy, and his body started to break down in 1997, when an ankle injury forced him to miss the entire subsequent season. After further back and knee surgeries, Muresan would play just 33 more games in the NBA before retiring in 2000.

9) Ron Lee, steals per game, ’77-’78

While we mostly associate steals leaders as players with quick hands and intelligent defensive instincts, Lee seemingly captured the league lead through pure hustle. Nicknamed the “Tasmanian Devil” for his constant energy and “Kamikaze Kid” for his reckless abandon on the court, Lee delighted Phoenix crowds in the late ’70s by diving for loose balls and harassing opposing guards. This playing style was certainly exciting but wasn’t conducive to his longevity, as Lee played just six seasons in the NBA. But while he was there, Lee was 1st-Team All-Rookie for the Suns in ’76-’77, and then led the league with 2.7 steals per game in ’77-’78. His 225 total steals that year was a low total at the time (as comparison, Don Buse had led the league with 281 one year prior), but would have led the NBA in each of the last 21 seasons.

8) Jon Sundvold, three-point field goal percentage, ’88-’89

His range was legendary but the rest of Sundvold’s skills were decidedly average. He could light up the scoreboard from time to time (averaging a respectable 11.2 points per game in ’86-’87 for the Spurs), but the 6’2″ Sundvold wasn’t much of a defender or play maker, limiting his impact. When the Heat selected him in the 1988 expansion draft, Sundvold found himself a perfect role as a long range bomber for a team lacking offensive firepower. After shooting just 33.9% from three-point range in his first five seasons, Sundvold shot an incredible 52.2% in ’88-’89. Not only did that mark lead the NBA, it broke Craig Hodges’ single season record and secured Sundvold’s spot in league history as the first player to shoot 50%+ in a season. He never came close to matching that mark again but Sundvold lasted three more seasons with Miami before retiring due to a neck injury.

7) Ernie Calverley, assists per game, ’46-’47 and ’47-’48

12 players have led the NBA in assists per game multiple times and it reads like a who’s who of point guard legends, from Bob Cousy to Magic Johnson to Chris Paul. Then there’s Calverly, who played just three total seasons in the NBA and averaged 3.5 assists per game for his career. He led the BAA in assists in its inaugural season with 3.4 per game, then repeated the feat in ’47-’48 with a paltry 2.5 per game. How are league leading like that possible? Because no single BAA team shot 30% or better from the field in ’46-’47 including Calverley’s Providence Steam Rollers, who were near the top of the leaderboard at 29.2%. Though passing is how Calverley made his mark in the BAA, he was a scoring leader for Rhode Island in the NCAA and hit an infamous 62-foot buzzer beater in the 1946 NIT.

“Like most offensive stats, assist totals tend to ebb and flow throughout the different offensively styled eras of the NBA but they have never even come close to bottoming out to where they were when the league first formed.”

6) Fred Hoiberg, three-point field goal percentage, ’04-’05
5) Jason Kapono, three-point field goal percentage, ’06-’07 and ’07-’08

Things have shifted a bit lately but for most of NBA history, three-point shooting was the domain of pigeonholed specialists like Hoiberg and Kapono. It was a bit of an unfamiliar position for Hoiberg, who was Mr. Iowa Basketball in high school and an all-around superstar at Iowa State. But to last a decade in the NBA, he concentrated on three-point shooting as a singular skill. Hoiberg led the league in three-point percentage for the Timberwolves in his 10th and final season, averaging just 5.8 points per game but shooting 48.3% from three. Just a few weeks after the season ended he was cut, ending his NBA career. There was no similar adjustment needed for Kapono, who knew from the jump that three-pointing shooting would be his NBA bread-and-butter. He led the league in three-point shooting percentage in back-to-back seasons, and his 51.4% for the Heat in ’06-’07 is still the sixth highest total in NBA history. An interesting side note: Since the 1986 introduction of the All-Star Three-Point Contest, Hoiberg is the only player not to participate in a season in which he led the league in a three-point category. Kapono was a regular in the contest and won it in both of his league leading seasons.

4) Manute Bol, total blocks and blocks per game, ’85-’86 and ’88-’89

A 7’7″ lanky center who had the longest wingspan in NBA history but could barely bench press 50 pounds, Bol couldn’t do much on the court but he could certainly block shots. He put up 397 blocks in his rookie season for the Bullets, ’85-’86, averaging 5.0 per game. Both of those marks led the league and both were the second highest total all time behind only Mark Eaton. Bol and Eaton would have a bit of a shot blocking rivalry over the next few years. Eaton was the league leader in ’86-’87 and ’87-’88, with Bol finishing second and fifth, respectively. Bol took back the shot blocking crown in ’88-’89, just edging out Eaton with 345. Due to his blocking totals getting compiled with scant playing time, Bol owns the three best block percentage seasons in NBA history and is by far the all-time leader in the advanced stats of career blocks per 36 minutes and blocks per 100 possessions

3) Tim Legler, three-point field goal percentage, ’95-’96

Defending champion and All-Star Glen Rice came into the Three-Point Shootout in 1996 in San Antonio as a heavy favorite, but instead a little-known journeyman guard walked away with the title. It was a long journey to All-Star weekend for Legler, who was barely recruited out of high school, un-drafted in 1988 out of La Salle, and spent two years playing pro ball in Europe and the CBA before finally reaching the NBA. He couldn’t do much besides shoot from long range, but in the ’95-’96 season with the Bullets, Legler was basically unstoppable at that one skill. After a record breaking performance in that Three-Point Shootout, Legler finished the season at 52.2% on three-point field goals, the third highest single season total in NBA history. He lasted four more seasons with the Bullets but played in only 76 more games due to knee issues that ultimately forced him to retire.

2) Howie Dallmar, total assists, ’47-’48

When he led the league in the category in ’47-’48, Dallmar compiled just 120 assists. To put that in perspective, Bob Cousy would total 547 assists just six years later, John Stockton regularly compiled over 1,100 assists in a season, and James Harden recently led the league with 907. To be fair this was hardly Dallmar’s fault, as the BAA cut the number of regular season games from 60 to 48 in ’47-’48 due to several franchises folding and the offensive totals reflected that. Dallmar finished with a paltry 2.5 assists per game for the Philadelphia Warriors, which somehow placed him second in the league after Ernie Calverley. He played one more season in the NBA before retiring to become a coach. In his three BAA seasons, Dallmar averaged 9.6 points and 2.3 assists per game but he did claim a title with the Warriors in 1947.

1) Jim Les, three-point field goal percentage, ’90-’91

It was a long and circuitous road for Les to the top of the NBA leaderboard. A star point guard at Bradley, he fell to the third round of the 1986 draft due to concerns over his 5″11′ height. Over the next four years Les was cut by the Hawks, 76ers (twice), Jazz, Clippers, and Hornets, and spent some time in both the WBL and CBA. He finally caught on with the Kings in ’90-’91, appearing in 55 games and shooting a league leading 46.1% on three-point field goals. He also participated in the All-Star Three-Point Shootout that season, finishing in second place behind Craig Hodges. Les played bits and pieces of another five seasons in the NBA before retiring in 1995 with career averages of 3.5 points and 2.8 assists per game.