NBA (and basketball in general) box scores need some noise cleansing. However this won't be done just to keep sports almanacs tidy.
First, a three pointer is not ever an easy basket. Only a handful players can hit around 50% on even the wide open threes. That is making 1 shot out of 2; or in other words, missing one of every two attempts is still considered very good. Therefore making a three mostly relies on the shooters skill. A pass to a three point shooter is not "a pass leading to an easy basket". The passer's contribution is minimal. Only passes leading to an easy lay up or dunk should count as an assist. That way "shooters costing Luka assists by missing shots" complaints would end. Those are not uncontested lay ups.
Second, a defensive rebound is the expected result of a missed shot. When teams are running back after the shot without contesting the offensive rebound to avoid giving up transition opportunities, collecting the defensive rebound become even easier, where you actually decide which player in the pool should collect it. The team shooting better usually also wins the rebounding battle on the box score because of giving less defensive rebound opportunities, yet this is not really a good indicator about how the actual rebounding battle went. They should only count offensive rebounds as a personal stat, and offensive rebounds conceded as a team stat. Therefore, people looking at the box score would have a better understanding of which team rebounded better.
Third, they should count the easy points conceded after a failed steal or block attempt so that those won't only count as positive stats. A steal or dunk attempt has the opportunity cost of giving up your defensive positioning, which is ignored by the box score. Players collecting steals and blocks are not always the best defenders.
Last, live turnovers should be a separate stat. When you pass or step out of bounds or lose the possession by an offensive foul, your defensive possession is normally set the following opponent's possession. When it is a live turnover, you collect the ball under your basket.
These changes would help box scores to reflect the contributions of players like Westbrook, Drummond and Whiteside better. A triple double is promoted as a huge accomplishment by the league, but the player who accomplished this feat at all of the games he played this season has yet to lead his not-so-bad-on-paper team to a win. IF his TDs are worthless, what makes others' worthwhile?
The games are played to win, not to collect individual stats. The personal stats are supposed to indicate how much that player contributed for the win.
First, a three pointer is not ever an easy basket. Only a handful players can hit around 50% on even the wide open threes. That is making 1 shot out of 2; or in other words, missing one of every two attempts is still considered very good. Therefore making a three mostly relies on the shooters skill. A pass to a three point shooter is not "a pass leading to an easy basket". The passer's contribution is minimal. Only passes leading to an easy lay up or dunk should count as an assist. That way "shooters costing Luka assists by missing shots" complaints would end. Those are not uncontested lay ups.
Second, a defensive rebound is the expected result of a missed shot. When teams are running back after the shot without contesting the offensive rebound to avoid giving up transition opportunities, collecting the defensive rebound become even easier, where you actually decide which player in the pool should collect it. The team shooting better usually also wins the rebounding battle on the box score because of giving less defensive rebound opportunities, yet this is not really a good indicator about how the actual rebounding battle went. They should only count offensive rebounds as a personal stat, and offensive rebounds conceded as a team stat. Therefore, people looking at the box score would have a better understanding of which team rebounded better.
Third, they should count the easy points conceded after a failed steal or block attempt so that those won't only count as positive stats. A steal or dunk attempt has the opportunity cost of giving up your defensive positioning, which is ignored by the box score. Players collecting steals and blocks are not always the best defenders.
Last, live turnovers should be a separate stat. When you pass or step out of bounds or lose the possession by an offensive foul, your defensive possession is normally set the following opponent's possession. When it is a live turnover, you collect the ball under your basket.
These changes would help box scores to reflect the contributions of players like Westbrook, Drummond and Whiteside better. A triple double is promoted as a huge accomplishment by the league, but the player who accomplished this feat at all of the games he played this season has yet to lead his not-so-bad-on-paper team to a win. IF his TDs are worthless, what makes others' worthwhile?
The games are played to win, not to collect individual stats. The personal stats are supposed to indicate how much that player contributed for the win.