Moneyball godfather Bill James first developed the “Win Shares” statistic for baseball, and basketball analysts have adapted the formula for their sport. Win Shares, according to the excellent stats site
basketball-reference.com, is the “estimate of the number of wins contributed by a player.” The formula is complex. A primer on how it’s calculated is
here. In short, the stat considers efficiency to be the key to winning games, and rewards players whose efficiency rankings outperform the league average by wide margins. Win Shares also has a defensive component.
James
led the NBA in Win Shares, at 19.3.