Next up: MVP? Associated Press
NEW YORK -- Shaquille O'Neal, seemingly everyone's favorite
for the MVP trophy, has won the NBA's IBM Award, a
computer-calculated measure of a player's contribution to his team.
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| O'Neal |
O'Neal carried the Los Angeles Lakers to the league's best
regular-season record, 67-15, by leading the NBA in scoring (29.7)
and field-goal percentage (57.4). He was second in rebounding
(13.6), third in blocks (3.8) and averaged a career-best 3.8
assists.
Those statistics earned O'Neal 117.46 points in the IBM formula,
the league announced Thursday. That easily outpaced last year's
honoree, Atlanta's Dikembe Mutombo, who had a 107.04 rating.
Utah's Karl Malone was third with 101.59, followed by
Minnesota's Kevin Garnett (100.56), and Seattle's Gary Payton
(96.43).
O'Neal was second to Mutombo last season.
David Robinson, 10th this year, has won the award a record five
times. Michael Jordan won it twice.
The rating is derived by adding together points, rebounds,
assists, steals and blocks, and subtracting field-goal attempts,
personal fouls and turnovers; adding that sum to the number of a
team's victories multiplied by 10; and multiplying that total by
250 to reach a number that is divided by team points plus rebounds,
assists, steals and blocks, minus field goal attempts, personal
fouls and turnovers.
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