Andrei Kirilenko’s Historic Season
What do Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Julius Erving, and Andrei Kirilenko all have in common?
Keep reading to find out.
First, a little context.
Plus/Minus is known as a hockey stat, but a similar statistic, known as Box Plus/Minus is being used in the NBA. For an explanation of BPM 2.0. which I’ll be referencing in this article, please read this. For those who don’t want to read the whole thing, here’s the short version:
Box Plus/Minus, Version 2.0 (BPM) is a basketball box score-based metric that estimates a basketball player’s contribution to the team when that player is on the court. It is based only on the information in the traditional basketball box score — no play-by-play data or non-traditional box score data (like dunks or deflections) are included.
BPM uses a player’s box score information, position, and the team’s overall performance to estimate the player’s contribution in points above league average per 100 possessions played.
If you look at the best BPM seasons throughout history, you see a lot of familiar names. All-time greats like LeBron James, Michael Jordan, and Steph Curry top the list. In fact, throughout the top 178 best BPM seasons, every player on the list is a multi-season All-Star.
All except for one.
Andrei Kirilenko.
Andrei Kirilenko, for those who don’t remember, is a Russian forward who was taken 24th overall in the 1st round of the 1999 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz. He played from 2001–02 through 2014–15 (minus the 2011–12 season when he played in Russia), mostly for the Jazz, but with stops in Minnesota and Brooklyn.
He was a solid player, averaging 11.8 points, 5.5 boards, 2.7 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.8 blocks a game. He shot 47% from the field, 75% from the line, but only 31% from beyond the 3-point line.
He made one All-Star team (2004), and three All-Defensive teams (2nd team in 2003–04 and 2004–05, 1st team in 2005–06).
However, despite the modest stat line, Andrei Kirilenko was a unique player.
First, he was Russian. Only 11 Russians have played a game in the NBA, and Kirilenko is the all-time Russian leader in every significant statistical category. Second, he had one of the NBA’s best nicknames: AK-47 (his initials + his jersey number). Third, he was a better player than it appears at first glance.
In 2004–05 as a 6'9" forward, who mostly played the 3, he led the NBA in blocks. Not Ben Wallace, not Alonzo Mourning, not Tim Duncan, Andrei Kirilenko.
But I’m going down a rabbit hole.
Let’s talk more about his 2003–04 season.
The season was a failure for the Utah Jazz, who missed the playoffs for the first time since 1983, and the first time in Jerry Sloan’s (then) 20-year career with the Jazz as an assistant and head coach. Before the season began Jazz legends Karl Malone and John Stockton both left the team, with Malone heading to LA to join Kobe and Stockton retiring.
To begin the season, Utah trotted out a starting lineup that looked like this:
- (PG) Carlos Arroyo
- (SG) Matt Harpring
- (SF) DeShawn Stevenson
- (PF) Andrei Kirilenko
- (C) Greg Ostertag
To be honest, it’s a miracle they won 42 games and missed out on the playoffs by only one game.
That miracle came in the form of Andrei Kirilenko.
AK-47, in his third season, got paid $955,000 to lead the Jazz in points, rebounds, steals, blocks, free throws made, three pointers made, field goals made, and minutes played. He also finished third on the team in assists.
He averaged 16.5 points, 8.1 boards, 3.1 assists, 1.9 steals, and 2.8 blocks a game.
Do you want to know how many other players have averaged that stat line in an NBA season?
Zero. Zilch. Nada.
Despite their mediocre roster, Kirilenko almost led his team to the playoffs. In fact, if they hadn’t been part of an insane Midwest division that featured 6 playoff teams, they would have made it. The only Western Conference playoff teams to not come from the Midwest division were the Lakers and Kings.
All told, the Jazz 2003–04 season wasn’t a failure. The team had it’s 19th consecutive winning season, featured six players not born in the United States (if you don’t count Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands), and won 5 more games than they were supposed to (expected Win-Loss record was 37–45).
The Jazz didn’t perform as well in the next couple of seasons, winning 26 games in 2004–05 and 41 games in 2005–06. However, they got back to their winning ways in 2006–07, winning 51 games behind a 25-years-and-younger crew that included Carlos Boozer, Deron Williams, Paul Millsap, and, of course, Andrei Kirilenko.
They made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals before losing in 5 games to the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs.
Kirilenko would never make another All-Star team, never win an NBA championship, and never have the stat line that he had in 2003–04, although he did churn out 10 more solid NBA seasons.
Now, back to my original question:
What do Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson, Julius Erving, and Andrei Kirilenko all have in common?
They are the only players in NBA history to have totaled at least 200 blocks and at least 150 steals in a single season. Hakeem did it four times, Robinson did it in 1991–92, Dr. J did it for the ABA Nets in 1973–74, and AK-47 did it in 2003–04.
That, more than any other stat I could mention, is the most descriptive of Andrei Kirilenko. Blocks and steals aren’t sexy stats like points and rebounds, they’re hustle stats. Stats won with blood, sweat, and tears. They mean running down fast breaks, stepping in front of passing lanes, and out-working other players on the court.
Andrei Kirilenko might not have been the fastest player, he might not have been the most athletic, or the best shooter, etc.
But for his entire 13-year career he hustled, worked, and grinded his way in a foreign country, earning respect everywhere he played.
And for that single, mostly forgotten, 2003–04 season, he was more than impressive.
He was historic.
