http://www.basketballreference.com/index.htmBasketballreference.com has a method of comparing a players statistics to all other players to determine overall similarity. The specific method is as follows
About the Similarity Scores
Similarity scores were developed by Bill James for baseball about 15 years ago in his book The Politics of Glory. The score is calculated by starting at 1000 and then subtracting off the statistical differences between the players.
One point for each difference of 8 games played
One point for each difference of 300 minutes
One point for each difference of .18 in ppg
One point for each difference of 140 fgm
One point for each difference of 320 fga
One point for each difference of 60 ftm
One point for each difference of 100 fta
One point for each difference of 20 3ptm
One point for each difference of 50 3pta
One point for each difference of 260 reb
One point for each difference of 80 asts
One point for each difference of 20 stl
One point for each difference of 10 blk
One point for each difference of 40 to
A position factor
I went through this and found who the most similar player is to a number of the greatest NBA players, and tried to determine who was the most unique player in NBA history. The most unique player is the one who's career stats has the least amount of similarity to other players.
Elgin Baylor - most similar is Bob Pettit 915
Kevin Garnett - most similar is Chris Webber 911
Dennis Rodman - most similar is Larry Smith 910, and Olden Polynice 885
Kobe Bryant - most similar is Paul Pierce 895
Tim Duncan - most similar is Artis Gilmore 891
Julias Erving - most similar is Bob McAdoo 877
Oscar Robertson - most similar is Jerry West 871
Jerry West - most similar is Oscar Robertson 871
Magic Johnson - most similar is Isiah Thomas 867
Allen Iverson - most similar is Jerry Stackhouse 864
Bill Russell - most similar is Nate Thurmond 860
Scottie Pippen - most similar is Gary Payton 840
David Robinson - most similar is Patrick Ewing 837
Patrick Ewing - most similar is David Robinson 837
Larry Bird - most similar is Clyde Drexler 821
Clyde Drexler - most similar is Larry Bird 821
Charles Barkley - most similar is Dominique Wilkins 820
John Havlicek - most similar is Hal Greer 816
Shaquille O'Neal - most similar is Artis Gilmore 799
Hakeem Olajuwan - most similar is Patrick Ewing 792
Wilt Chamberlin - most similar is Elgin Baylor 760
Michael Jordan - most similar is Charles Barkley 759
Moses Malone - most similar is Elvin Hayes 730
Karl Malone - most similar is Moses Malone 628
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - most similar is Patrick Ewing 616
And the most unique player statistcally for his career is...................
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John Stockton - most similar is Isiah Thomas 605