Luka, SGA, Steph, Brunson on top.
Then, even after that you have
Haliburton, Ja, Trae, Dame, Lamelo
And we are not mentioning players like Fox, Garland, Jrue, Harden, and Murray yet.
Why is the position PG has a lot of quality players relative to other positions?
Is there any scientific or logical reason to this?
This thread is mostly saying it’s for height reasons, but if that were true, then PG would be the most stacked position in all leagues at all times. This certainly wasn’t true in the older years when big guys were considered the most important members to the team.
It also doesn’t take into account players like Luka or SGA, that are taller than the traditional PG, but choose to play the position.
My take is that we’re living in a post Harden and Curry league. Due to those two, PG is not just about setting up other players, they can now score at any distance, defend many positions, and even rebound. It’s now common for PGs to be the franchise player, which is a significant paradigm shift. In short, PG has become a prestige positon.
Other people have also mentioned the rise of the flexible “wing” positon, and I think that’s a good point as well. Basically, in the modern NBA, 2s, 3s, and 4s, all play pretty similarly. This causes those positions to look less crowded since most top wings are not locked into any single position. Think about Brown and Tatum, who used to be a 2 and 3, have now been moved to 3 and 4 without much change to their playstyle.
When the game was play closer to the basket, high mattered more.
As the game has evolved away from the post and the midgame and more into one of three-pointers and spacing; agility, floor vision, passing ability, and a quick (and accurate) trigger have become the key. And none of these things are height dependent.