You don’t need to be an NBA expert to see that this season Deni Avdija is playing at an All-Star level. The Israeli forward, who delivered another outstanding performance on Sunday night with the fourth triple-double of his career, is a leading candidate for the league’s Most Improved Player award and continues to break remarkable records along the way.
Following his dominant outing against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the account DC Sports Buzz published a striking, and almost unbelievable, statistical comparison between Avdija and none other than LeBron James, one of the greatest basketball players of all time. The comparison presents the numbers each posted at the age Avdija is now, 24, based on per-36-minute production in their sixth NBA seasons.
According to that data, Avdija is posting averages that are almost identical to James’ at the same stage of his career. Avdija is shooting better from beyond the arc, pulling down more rebounds, getting to the free-throw line more often and scoring the exact same number of points.
Deni Avdija. Photo: AFP
Nearly Identical Numbers
Avdija’s per-36-minute averages in his sixth NBA season:
27.2 points on 17.7 field-goal attempts, 47.6% from the field, 37.8% from three, 7.4 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 9.5 free-throw attempts per game.
James’ per-36-minute averages in his sixth NBA season:
27.2 points on 19 field-goal attempts, 48.9% from the field, 34.4% from three, 7.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 9 free-throw attempts per game.
Thanks to his performance against Oklahoma City, which capped an especially strong month, Avdija finished November averaging 27.1 points, 7.5 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game. There is no doubt: Israel has a true NBA All-Star in the making.
