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The top five greatest player seasons in pro basketball history

J

J_Dee

All-Conference
Mar 21, 2008
4,284
4,317
0
This covers almost all of the possible candidates:

Bird, 1985-1986
Curry, 2014-2015
Curry, 2015-2016
Dr. J, 1973-1974
Duncan, 2003-2004
Hakeem, 1993-1994
Jordan, 1987-1988
Jordan, 1990-1991
Jordan, 1991-1992
Jordan, 1992-1993
Jordan, 1995-1996
Jordan, 1996-1997
Jordan, 1997-1998
Kareem, 1970-1971
Kareem, 1979-1980
LeBron, 2011-2012
LeBron, 2012-2013
LeBron, 2015-2016
Magic, 1979-1980
Magic, 1986-1987
Mikan, 1948-1949
Shaq, 1999-2000
Robertson, 1963-1964
Wilt, 1961-1962
Wilt, 1963-1964
Wilt, 1966-1967

I'm basing my criteria off of personal accomplishments, team accomplishments, and popularity/cultural influence, in that order.

At the moment I'm going with:

Jordan, 1990-1991
Jordan, 1995-1996
Shaq, 1999-2000
Wilt, 1961-1962
LeBron, 2011-2012

Who ya got? :)
 
M

_Mav_

All-Conference
Mar 29, 2021
1,560
4,765
0
World B. Free's 1979-1980 campaign (30.2 ppg) is the single greatest season ever.

 
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funKYcat75

funKYcat75

Heisman
Apr 10, 2008
32,293
40,730
112
I feel like he may have given himself a few of these nicknames.

Michael Jeffrey Jordan

(Mike, Air Jordan, M.J., His Airness, Money, Black Cat, Mr. June, G.O.A.T., Superman, Captain Marvel, Black Jesus)
 
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AustinTXCat

AustinTXCat

Hall of Famer
Jan 7, 2003
52,218
307,370
113
Honorable mention: Rick Barry, 1974-1975.

Only player in history to lead NBA, ABA and NCAA in scoring during one season or another. Won NBA title with GSW. Famous for underhand free throw technique.

Fun fact: Rick Barry's third and current wife, Lynn, earned her masters from UK and served as assistant Lady Cats basketball coach from 1981-1983.
 
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B

BMoore2

All-Conference
Nov 22, 2017
2,598
3,226
108
J_Dee said:
This covers almost all of the possible candidates:

Bird, 1985-1986
Curry, 2014-2015
Curry, 2015-2016
Dr. J, 1973-1974
Duncan, 2003-2004
Hakeem, 1993-1994
Jordan, 1987-1988
Jordan, 1990-1991
Jordan, 1991-1992
Jordan, 1992-1993
Jordan, 1995-1996
Jordan, 1996-1997
Jordan, 1997-1998
Kareem, 1970-1971
Kareem, 1979-1980
LeBron, 2011-2012
LeBron, 2012-2013
LeBron, 2015-2016
Magic, 1979-1980
Magic, 1986-1987
Mikan, 1948-1949
Shaq, 1999-2000
Robertson, 1963-1964
Wilt, 1961-1962
Wilt, 1963-1964
Wilt, 1966-1967

I'm basing my criteria off of personal accomplishments, team accomplishments, and popularity/cultural influence, in that order.

At the moment I'm going with:

Jordan, 1990-1991
Jordan, 1995-1996
Shaq, 1999-2000
Wilt, 1961-1962
LeBron, 2011-2012

Who ya got? :)
Click to expand...
Jordan, period. He had the highest PER in both the regular season and playoffs, as well as the greatest number of win shares-both regular season and playoffs. Pick any of his seasons beyond 1986-87, and you’ve got an all-time great individual season.
 
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R

Ron Mehico

Heisman
Jan 4, 2008
15,473
33,054
0
WildcatFan1982 said:
There weren't any other tall people back then! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

What cracks me up is hearing younger people talk about how much better “athletes” are today. As if human beings have somehow evolved in the last 40 years into a super human from the old tortoise like man of the 1900s. Nothing points out how ridiculous this is better than the 100m dash. The very first one held was in 1912 and the record was 10.6. That was wearing GD chuck taylors on a dirt track after practicing for a month. 109 years later, after PEDS, rubber tracks, millions in equipment and decades of training the record is….9.6! Wow, a whole second faster wow!!
 
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J

J_Dee

All-Conference
Mar 21, 2008
4,284
4,317
0
ukalum1988 said:
No Bill Russell???
Click to expand...

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/russebi01.html

Overall, 1962-1963 was probably his best season.

78 games, 44.9 MPG
16.8 PPG, .432 FG%, .555 FT%
23.6 RPG
4.5 APG
18.2 PER, 13.5 WS (led the league in DWS, with 12.6)
All-Star, All-Star MVP
All-NBA First Team
MVP

Wilt led him (and the rest of the league) in minutes played (47.6), FG% (.528), RPG (24.3), PPG (44.8), WS (20.9), and PER (31.8). Boston won the Finals though (over Cincy and the Lakers):

13 playoff games, 47.5 MPG
20.3 PPG, .453 FG%, .661 FT%
25.1 RPG
5.1 APG
Championship

That's a great season but IMHO it doesn't hold up to most of the ones listed above.
 
V

vhcat70

Heisman
Feb 5, 2003
57,418
38,482
0
Need to reduce the point totals of three-point shots by 1/3 to get all players on equal scoring footing.

Not sure how valuable Wilt would be today in the 3 point shot game. But valuable, yes. Not near so many blocks. And he easily missed the most FT's in NBA history: 5800.
 
B

berniecarbo

Heisman
Apr 29, 2020
4,815
27,518
113
MrHotDice said:
Red Auerbach says give me Bill Russell
Click to expand...
Actually he also said give me Wilt. Back in the day, some of the mountain resorts of the northeast hired basketball players for jobs such as bell hops and they entertained the guests by playing games at night. Wilt was one of those bell hops and Red was the athletic director and basketball coach at the resort where Wilt worked. In those days, the NBA had territorial picks. Red tried to get Wilt to go to a college in the Boston area so he could draft Wilt for the Celtics. Kansas offered more money.
 
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