Klay isn't an alpha. Reggie was.
Reggie wasn't an alpha.
In the Drexler thread, I had tried to formulate an argument that Miller was better because he was underappreciated in his time and typed up a bunch of stuff but my research convinced me that he was not. I let evidence convince me of something and didn't post. Instead I posted some advanced stats that showed Drexler was better.
The main issue with Reggie's statistical and real life career is his usage %. He was incredibly efficient. His total points per shot attempt is fantastic. He played a ton of minutes with great career longevity. He didn't turn the ball over much. But he wasn't using the ball nearly at a level commensurate with other star players. He wasn't play-making, he wasn't getting others good shots. His team's offenses were good but not incredible, because he didn't have as big of an impact as some others. This also allowed his efficiency to be so high, due to the usage skill curve. He had a >25% usage rate twice in his 18 year career and his average is 21.6%, median 22.2%. Guys in that range this year in the league: Malik Monk, Kelly Oubre Jr, Terrance Ross, Bogdan Bogdanovic (the worse Bogdanovic). Those 2 years he reached 25%+ he was in the CJ McCollum/Buddy Hield range of usage. His best finish was 19th in usage % in the league. Curry has been 30+% usage 5 times. His average and median are both several % points higher than Miller's peak. If your argument is that Miller wasn't allowed to take more shots "by the man" or the league wouldn't let him: In Miller's peak years, Mitch Richmond took about the same % of his shots from 3 as Miller, but also had a usage rate in the high 20s, 2nd in the league behind Jordan who was in the 30s.
As others have mentioned, he was a catch and shoot player. Now, there is certainly an argument that being catch and shoot, his gravity and spacing were not well known at the time. Especially when comparing to someone like Drexler.
But you can't use that argument in comparison to Steph, the player with the most gravity of all time. Steph is better. There's no argument to the contrary. I know we're all bored, but damn.
