A lot has been made in the NBA stat analysis community that Monta Ellis is a bit overrated. Ellis’ rate states are quite gaudy. He has 25.8 ppg, 5.4 apg, and 4.2 rpg. On the other side, Ellis is playing 41.5 mpg and has a rather pedestrian 16.9 PER based on his mediocre shooting, mediocre free throw rate (compared to touches), below-average three point shooting (.327%), and his high turnover rate (3.6 TOs per-36 minutes). Of course it takes a degree of talent to play 41.5 mpg to begin with but you can put me firmly in the camp of those who believe Ellis to be a decent player.
What interests me about Ellis, however, is not the debate of his worth but how he is absorbing minutes like a sponge. Ellis is currently second in the NBA in mpg behind Gerald Wallace, who is playing 42 mpg. What should we be expecting from our NBA players? Well, 42 mpg is a lot for an NBA players. There are currently 100 players who have logged a season of 42 mpg or more (minimum of 60 games played). Going back to the beginning, logging tons of minutes was a 1960s concept. Here is a distribution of the 42 MPG club by decade: