The NBA has seen some unbelievable individual seasons throughout its history. We’ve watched players dominate statistically, lead teams to historic records, collect MVP awards and put together seasons that still look impossible decades later.
For this list, I’m looking strictly at the regular season. Championships and playoff performances don’t matter here. I’m judging statistical dominance, efficiency, individual awards, team success, impact on the game and performance on both ends of the floor.
There were plenty of seasons worthy of consideration, but only five can make the list.
#5 Shaquille O’Neal, 1999–2000
There have been plenty of dominant players throughout NBA history, but peak Shaquille O’Neal might have been the most physically overwhelming player basketball has ever seen.
During the 1999–2000 season, Shaq averaged 29.7 points, 13.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 57.4 percent from the field. He won the scoring title, made First Team All-NBA and Second Team All-Defense and led the Lakers to a 67–15 record.
Then came the MVP voting.
Shaq received 120 of 121 first-place votes, missing what would have been the first unanimous MVP in NBA history by a single vote.
This was Shaq at the absolute height of his powers. Opposing teams built their rosters around simply having enough big bodies to throw at him. Teams could double him, foul him and try everything imaginable to slow him down, but most nights it didn’t matter.
He was too big, too strong, too explosive and too skilled around the basket. When Shaq established position inside, there often wasn’t much a defense could do besides hope he missed.
Peak Shaq was inevitable, and his 1999–2000 season earns the fifth spot on my list.
#4 LeBron James, 2012–13
This might have been the closest LeBron James ever came to becoming the perfect basketball player.
LeBron averaged 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game while shooting an absurd 56.5 percent from the field and 40.6 percent from three. Miami finished with the best record in the NBA at 66–16, including an incredible 27-game winning streak.
LeBron received 120 of 121 first-place MVP votes, but the numbers alone don’t fully explain why this season belongs here.
This was arguably LeBron at his defensive peak as well. At roughly 6’9″ and 250 pounds, he possessed the size and strength to defend big men while having enough speed to stay with guards and wings. On the other end, he was Miami’s primary scorer, playmaker and offensive engine.
What makes this version of LeBron special was the efficiency. He didn’t need to average 35 points per game to dominate. He controlled virtually every aspect of the game while shooting better than 56 percent from the field.
We’ve seen seasons with bigger scoring numbers, but there haven’t been many versions of a basketball player more complete than 2012–13 LeBron James.
#3 Wilt Chamberlain, 1961–62
I don’t care what era you played in.
If you average 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds per game, you’re making this list.
Wilt Chamberlain’s 1961–62 season contains statistics that look like typing errors. He scored 4,029 points in one season and averaged an unbelievable 48.5 minutes per game, more than the length of a regulation NBA game because he essentially never left the court and played additional overtime minutes.
And of course, this was the season of the most famous individual scoring performance in basketball history.
100 points in one game.
But the 100-point game wasn’t some isolated explosion during an otherwise normal season. Wilt scored at least 50 points 45 different times that year.
Think about that for a second.
Most NBA superstars would consider one 50-point game a highlight of their season. Wilt essentially turned scoring 50 into a normal occurrence.
There will always be arguments about the era, pace and level of competition. Those conversations are fair when comparing players separated by more than half a century.
But eventually the numbers become too ridiculous to ignore.
Nobody else has averaged 50 points for an NBA season.
Wilt did it while also grabbing nearly 26 rebounds every night.
That’s enough for #3.
#2 Stephen Curry, 2015–16
There is a legitimate argument that this is the greatest regular season any player has ever produced.
Stephen Curry averaged 30.1 points, 6.7 assists, 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 steals per game while shooting 50.4 percent from the field, 45.4 percent from three and 90.8 percent from the free-throw line.
That alone is ridiculous.
Then you get to the three-pointers.
402.
Nobody had ever even made 300 threes in a season before Curry decided to skip that milestone entirely and go straight past 400. His previous NBA record was 286. Curry didn’t simply break the record. He destroyed it.
And he wasn’t chucking shots to get there. Curry shot 45.4 percent from three while attempting more than 11 per game. He essentially combined unprecedented volume with elite efficiency.
Golden State finished 73–9, breaking the NBA record for regular-season victories, while Curry led the league in scoring and steals.
Then came another first.
Stephen Curry became the first unanimous MVP in NBA history.
This season also helped change the way basketball was played. Pulling up from 30 feet in transition used to be considered a terrible shot. Curry made it something defenses had to prepare for. His shooting range stretched defenses beyond anything they were accustomed to dealing with and helped accelerate the three-point revolution across basketball.
If I were ranking the greatest offensive regular seasons ever, this might be #1.
But I’m ranking the greatest overall individual regular seasons.
And there is one season I simply cannot put below it.
#1 Michael Jordan, 1987–88
Michael Jordan’s 1987–88 season sounds like someone created a player in a video game and turned every attribute up to 99.
Jordan averaged 35.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 3.2 steals and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 53.5 percent from the field.
Thirty-five points per game would already make this one of the greatest offensive seasons ever.
But then you look at the other end of the floor.
Jordan won Defensive Player of the Year.
That’s what puts this season at #1 for me.
Jordan didn’t simply dominate offensively while being a good defender. He was arguably the best offensive player and best defensive player in basketball at the same time.
Look at what he accomplished that season.
NBA MVP.
Defensive Player of the Year.
Scoring champion.
Steals leader.
First Team All-NBA.
First Team All-Defense.
And he averaged 35 points per game while doing it.
Curry’s 2015–16 season might have been more revolutionary offensively. Wilt’s statistics might be more unbelievable. LeBron might have been the most versatile player on this list. Shaq might have been the most physically dominant.
But none of them combined elite offense and elite defense quite like Jordan did during this season.
Imagine asking your best player to carry the scoring load every night, create offense, average 35 points and then turn around and be one of the most disruptive defensive players in the league.
That’s what Michael Jordan did.
It’s one thing to dominate one side of basketball.
Jordan dominated both.
That’s why 1987–88 Michael Jordan is my pick for the greatest individual regular season in NBA history.
Leaving players such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Nikola Jokić, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson and James Harden off this list wasn’t easy. There are even other Jordan and LeBron seasons that could make a legitimate argument for a spot.
But when I’m judging the greatest regular seasons rather than careers or playoff runs, these are my five.
And at the top sits Michael Jordan in 1987–88, because averaging 35 points while simultaneously winning Defensive Player of the Year is simply too much for me to put anywhere else.
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