Monday, April 13, 2009
12 More Great NBA Seasons
Earlier this month, my colleague Bijan C. Bayne wrote a column titled, "The 12 Greatest Individual NBA Seasons" that left me wondering if it was an April Fool's joke. Actually, Bijan did a great job of highlighting some exceptional NBA seasons which don't get enough recognition today. But his list was missing some serious NBA icons. No George Mikan. No Larry Bird or Magic Johnson or Dr. J. No Shaq, no Tim Duncan. I just don't find it plausible that six of the 12 greatest NBA seasons occurred in the 1960s, and none before '61 or between 1991-2006. So here's my own list of the 12 greatest individual NBA seasons in history. Like Bijan, I'm only listing each player once. Unlike him, I'm numbering my list and going in reverse order.
12] TIM DUNCAN, SAN ANTONIO SPURS, 2002-03
Vitals: 23.3 ppg, 12.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists
Duncan is the closest thing we have to a modern-day Bill Russell. In Duncan's 12 seasons with the Spurs, the team has never lost 30 games. In fact, Duncan made the largest immediate impact of any player in history. In his rookie season, the Spurs went 56-26, a 36-game game improvement from the previous season, shattering Larry Bird's record of +32 in his rookie year with Boston. That rookie year, Duncan averaged a double-double, shot 54.9%, made the second-team All-Defensive Team, and finished fifth in MVP voting. According to John Hollinger's PER system, Duncan's rookie season was the worst of his career. Like Russell, Duncan is an outstanding defensive player who is even better than his statistics show, and he's so consistent that it's not easy to choose his best performance. I've gone with '02-'03, when Duncan won regular-season and Finals MVP Awards. This was also his career-best year in rebounds, assists, and blocks.
11] WALT BELLAMY, CHICAGO PACKERS, 1961-62
Vitals: 31.6, 19.0 rebounds, 51.9% FG%
Let me get something out of the way right now. I expressed bewilderment that my colleague's list included six seasons from the 1960s. Mine includes three individual selections from the 1961-62 season. That was an expansion year, and the Chicago Packers were the new team. You probably haven't heard of the Packers, because they only existed for one season. The next year, they were renamed the Chicago Zephyrs. The year after that, the Baltimore Bullets. That stuck for a while, but three more name changes later, the team is now the Washington Wizards.
Anyway, Bellamy was the one capable player on the expansion Packers. It is my estimation that the team would not have won more than eight games without Bellamy. Even with him, they were 18-62. But Bellamy scored more than any two of his teammates combined, grabbed more rebounds than any three teammates combined, and led the whole NBA in field goal percentage. That's especially impressive, because this was before the zone defense rule, and Bellamy was usually guarded by multiple defenders. 52% may not seem like much today, but shooting percentages were much lower then, and what Bellamy did was equivalent to about 60% in today's game.
10] JULIUS ERVING, NEW YORK NETS, 1975-76
Vitals: 29.3 ppg, 11.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists
It would be misleading to say that Dr. J was never the same player in the NBA that he was in the ABA. He was an NBA MVP, NBA champion, 11-time All-Star, and five-time first-team All-NBA selection. It would be misleading, but it wouldn't be wrong. Dr. J was absolutely the best player in the ABA, and his statistics were not only better, but much better in the younger league. That doesn't mean the ABA was a weaker league; many other ABA players made the transition to the NBA with no noticeable downturn. In the 1975-76 season, his last in the ABA, Erving averaged 4 offensive rebounds per game, which is unheard of for a small forward. He shot over 50% from the field and over 80% from the line, led the league in scoring, and led his team in assists.
9] SHAQUILLE O'NEAL, L.A. LAKERS, 1999-2000
Vitals: 29.7 ppg, 13.6 rebounds, 57.4% FG%
There are many players on this list whose best season I've had trouble identifying. O'Neal is not one of them. This was Shaq's best or second-best season in scoring, rebounding, assists, minutes played, and blocks, earning his only regular-season MVP. It was the best team he ever played on (67-15, won Finals), and he was named Finals MVP. O'Neal has always had major or minor injury issues, and this was a healthy season with O'Neal at his athletic prime, but still with enough experience to be a very smart player on the court.
8] LARRY BIRD, BOSTON CELTICS, 1985-86
Vitals: 25.8 ppg, 9.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists
Larry Bird is one of those players who had so many great seasons, it's hard to choose one to stand alone as his best, and I'm not convinced this is the right choice. Per game, his averages were better the next year. But in 1985-86 Bird collected his third straight MVP award and his second Finals MVP. This was probably the best team in Celtics history — which is really saying something — and Bird was the motor that drove it. He led the Celts in minutes, points, rebounds, assists, and steals, shooting 90% from the line and 42% on three-pointers.
7] MAGIC JOHNSON, L.A. LAKERS, 1986-87
Vitals: 23.9 ppg, 12.2 assists, 6.3 rebounds
Which was Magic Johnson's best season? Was it 1981-82, when he averaged more than 9 rebounds and 9 assists per game, led the NBA in steals per game, and was named Finals MVP? 1983-84, when he averaged 13 assists and shot 56.5%? Maybe it was 1988-89, when he averaged 13 assists and 8 rebounds, led the NBA in free throw percentage (91.1%), and won league MVP, or the next season, when he repeated as league MVP? I went with 1986-87, when Johnson was both NBA MVP and Finals MVP, with a career high in scoring.
6] ELGIN BAYLOR, L.A. LAKERS, 1960-61
Vitals: 34.8 ppg, 19.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists
One of my biggest disagreements with Bijan's original article was picking Baylor's best season. Bijan chose 1961-62, when Baylor averaged 38 points instead of 35, but was worse in every other major category recorded at the time: FG%, FT%, rebounds, and assists. Most significantly, Baylor only played 48 games. His contributions were much, much greater in '60-'61.
5] MICHAEL JORDAN, CHICAGO BULLS, 1990-91
Vitals: 31.5 ppg, 6.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists
One of the curiosities of basketball is that the link between individual performance and team success is much less than in other sports. In football, each teammate has a specific role, and selfish plays and players are difficult to identify, at least on the field. There's no such thing as a ballhog in baseball. In both of those sports, a player who does well on an individual level almost invariably is helping his team, and the greater his individual success, the better that is for his team. The same is not true in basketball, where a player can rack up fantastic individual statistics by being selfish or unwise with the ball. Bijan chose 1988-89 for Jordan. That year, he had more points, rebounds, and assists than in the season I've chosen. But in my year, the Bulls won a championship. I think Jordan became a smarter, better player under Phil Jackson, and I believe this was Jordan at his best.
4] KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR, MILWAUKEE BUCKS, 1971-72
Vitals: 34.8 ppg, 16.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists
This is one of only two seasons to make both my list and Bijan's. It is difficult to overstate how dominant Abdul-Jabbar was in the 1970s, and this was his best season. Kareem is best-remembered for his time with the Lakers' Showtime Dynasty, but he was even better in Milwaukee. I would argue that Oscar Robertson, Bob Dandridge, and Abdul-Jabbar were a better trio in the early '70s than Magic Johnson, James Worthy, and Abdul-Jabbar were in the '80s. The 1970-71 Bucks may have been the best team in NBA history.
3] GEORGE MIKAN, MINNEAPOLIS LAKERS, 1950-51
Vitals: 28.4 ppg, 14.1 rebounds, 80.3% FT%
Reliable stats are spotty for the NBA's earliest years, which makes it tough to identify Mikan's best season. I suspect it was really the year before this one, but the league didn't keep rebound data then, so '50-'51 is the safer choice, even though it's the only season from 1947-1954 that Mikan and the Lakers didn't win a league title. This season, Mikan scored 1,932 points; next-best was 1,429. Mikan had 958 rebounds; only one other player (Dolph Schayes) had over 800. Mikan made 100 free throws more than anyone else. He made almost 200 more field goals than anyone else. Mikan may have been the single most dominant player in history.
2] OSCAR ROBERTSON, CINCINNATI ROYALS, 1961-62
Vitals: 30.8 ppg, 12.4 rebounds, 11.5 assists
One of the two seasons Bijan and I agree on. The man averaged a triple-double for the whole season.
1] WILT CHAMBERLAIN, PHILADELPHIA WARRIORS, 1961-62
Vitals: 50.4 ppg, 25.7 rebounds, 48.5 minutes
In the original piece, Bijan selected '65-'66 for Chamberlain, and really, you almost can't go wrong with this guy. If we let people on the list more than once, Chamberlain would probably have at least half the seasons listed. In that 1965-66 season, the Big Dipper led the NBA in minutes, points, field goals, field goal percentage, and rebounds. But look at the numbers listed for 1961-62. Wilt averaged more than 50 points per game. He averaged more than 25 rebounds per game. And somehow, he averaged more than 48 minutes per game. Huh? Well, the Warriors had a couple of overtime games that season, and Wilt was an iron man. I won't argue too hard against any of the seasons on my list, or on Bijan's, but I would submit that this was probably the greatest individual season in the history of professional basketball.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
BOB PETTIT, ST. LOUIS HAWKS, 1958-59
29.2 ppg, 16.4 rebounds
BILL RUSSELL, BOSTON CELTICS, 1961-62
18.9 ppg, 23.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists
JERRY WEST, L.A. LAKERS, 1965-66
31.3 ppg, 7.1 rebounds, 6.1 assists
JOHN HAVLICEK, BOSTON CELTICS, 1970-71
28.9 ppg, 9.0 rebounds, 7.5 assists
BOB MCADOO, BUFFALO BRAVES, 1974-75
34.5 ppg, 14.1 rebounds, 80.5% FT%
MOSES MALONE, HOUSTON ROCKETS, 1981-82
31.1 ppg, 14.7 rebounds, 6.9 offensive rebounds
JOHN STOCKTON, UTAH JAZZ, 1988-89
17.1 ppg, 13.6 assists, 3.2 steals
HAKEEM OLAJUWON, HOUSTON ROCKETS, 1992-93
26.1 ppg, 13.0 rebounds, 4.2 blocks
DAVID ROBINSON, SAN ANTONIO SPURS, 1993-94
29.8 ppg, 10.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists
KARL MALONE, UTAH JAZZ, 1996-97
27.4 ppg, 9.9 rebounds, 55.0% FG%
TRACY MCGRADY, ORLANDO MAGIC, 2002-03
32.1 ppg, 6.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists
LEBRON JAMES, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS, 2007-08
30.0 ppg, 7.9 rebounds, 7.2. assists
***
Finally, if anyone is still with me after all that, I want to clarify something I wrote earlier: "I won't argue too hard against any of the seasons on my list, or on Bijan's" as the best ever. There is one exception: Adrian Dantley in 1982-83, when Dantley only played 22 games. His stats were just as good the year before and the year after, but he played a full schedule in those seasons. The '82-'83 season was the only one in the early '80s that Dantley wasn't an all-star. That clearly was not one of the top 12, or even the top 100, seasons in history. The rest of the list, even where I disagree, is very strong.