50–40–90 club

The "50–40–90 club" is an informal statistic used to rate players as excellent shooters in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). It requires a player to achieve the criteria of 50% field goal percentage, 40% three-point field goal percentage and 90% free throw percentage over the course of a regular season. In NBA and WNBA history, only nine players have recorded a 50–40–90 season. The most recent player, the WNBA's first, was Elena Delle Donne in 2019.[1]

Steve Nash of the Phoenix Suns

50–40–90 is considered an exceptional performance by a shooter.[2] Only Steve Nash (four times) and Larry Bird (twice) have had more than one 50–40–90 season. Nash's lifetime 49–43–90 regular season average is the closest anyone has come to achieving a career 50–40–90 mark,[3] and his 47–40–90 playoff average is the closest anyone has come to achieving a career 50–40–90 mark in the playoffs.[4]

Members
Larry Bird, the first player to accomplish the 50–40–90 achievement, and one of two players to achieve the feat in multiple seasons.

Since the NBA introduced the three-point field goal in the 1979–80 season, the 50–40–90 shooting threshold has been reached by eight players:[2][5]

WNBA:

Nash and Bird are the only players who have repeated 50–40–90 seasons; Bird was the first to join this club in 1986–87 and recorded back-to-back seasons, while Nash recorded four such seasons between 2005 and 2010.[6] Nash narrowly missed a fifth consecutive 50–40–90 season by shooting at 89.9% from the free throw line during the 2006–07 season, one made free throw short of the 90% mark.[7] Delle Donne became the first woman to achieve the feat during the 2019 WNBA season.

Terminology and calculations

NBA

Similar to baseball batting averages, official NBA shooting statistics are calculated to the third decimal place (thousandths), but are referred to as percentages. While the NBA officially uses a three-digit number, it reports shooting statistics in a shortened and rounded form as a percentage, so that .899 to the third decimal place is simplified as a two digit "90%" in most of its reporting.[8] Thus, a true 50–40–90 season requires a player to achieve or exceed 50.0 percent field goal efficiency, 40.0 percent three-point field goal efficiency and 90.0 percent free-throw shooting efficiency.

Player Season GP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% PTS PPG Ref.
Larry Bird 1986–87747861,49753% (.525)9022540% (.400)41445591% (.910)2,07628.05 [9]
Larry Bird (2) 1987–88768811,67253% (.527)9823741% (.414)41545392% (.916)2,27529.93 [9]
Mark Price 1988–89755291,00653% (.526)9321144% (.441)26329290% (.901)1,41418.85 [10]
Reggie Miller 1993–94795241,04250% (.503)12329242% (.421)40344491% (.908)1,57419.92 [11]
Steve Nash 2005–06795411,05651% (.512)15034244% (.439)25727992% (.921)1,48918.85 [7]
Dirk Nowitzki 2006–07786731,34150% (.502)7217342% (.416)49855190% (.904)1,91624.56 [12]
Steve Nash (2) 2007–088148596250% (.504)17938147% (.470)22224591% (.906)1,37116.93 [7]
Steve Nash (3) 2008–097442885150% (.503)10824644% (.439)19621093% (.933)1,16015.68 [7]
Steve Nash (4) 2009–108149998551% (.507)12429143% (.426)21122594% (.938)1,33316.46 [7]
Kevin Durant 2012–13817311,43351% (.510)13933442% (.416)67975091% (.905)2,28028.15 [13]
Stephen Curry 2015–16798051,59850% (.504)40288645% (.454)36340091% (.908)2,37530.06 [14]
Malcolm Brogdon 2018–196437874851% (.505)10424443% (.426)14115293% (.928)1,00115.64 [15]

WNBA
Player Season GP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% PTS PPG Ref.
Elena Delle Donne 20193122042752% (.515)5212143% (.430)11411797% (.974)60619.54 [16]

References
General
  • "Player Season Finder: For single seasons, in the regular season, from 1979–80, requiring Field Goal Pct >= .495 and 3-Pt Field Goal Pct >= .395 and Free Throw Pct >= .895, sorted by ascending player". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 6, 2013.
Specific
  1. "Delle Donne first in WNBA to join 50-40-90 club". ESPN.com. September 8, 2019. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  2. "The vanguards: Rating Nash amongst the best". canada.com. Postmedia Network Inc. January 3, 2007. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved October 20, 2010.
  3. "Player Game Finder". Basketball-reference .com.
  4. "Player Game Finder". Retrieved June 14, 2018.
  5. Velazquez, Matt (March 13, 2019). "Steady sharpshooter Malcolm Brogdon is on pace to join an elite club filled with Hall of Famers and MVPs". Journal Sentinel. Retrieved March 17, 2019.
  6. "Spurs In His Side". National Post. National Post Inc. September 17, 2010. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  7. "Steve Nash Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  8. Cohen, Richard M., and Neft, David S.: The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Basketball Edition, St. Martin's Press, 1990.
  9. "Larry Bird Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  10. "Mark Price Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  11. "Reggie Miller Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  12. "Dirk Nowitzki Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  13. "Kevin Durant Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 17, 2013.
  14. "Stephen Curry Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  15. "Malcolm Brogdon Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 11, 2019.
  16. "Elena Delle Donne WNBA Stats". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
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