There will always be an underlying tendency between superstar players and efficiency, even before the reign of advanced metrics in the NBA. When all-time great shooting guard Michael Jordan was leading all of those Chicago Bulls teams to six NBA Championships during the dynasty years in the 1990’s, advanced stats didn’t carry near the significance that they do today.
In fact, advanced metrics really didn’t hit the mainstream until John Hollinger broadly made the stat known as player efficiency rating a nationally known phenomenon. Player efficiency rating has largely since been replaced by other advanced metrics like box plus/minus rating, 538’s RAPTOR rating, and ESPN’s real plus/minus rating.