In 2016, Stephen Curry made NBA history by becoming the first unanimous MVP. He received every single first-place vote after one of the greatest offensive seasons basketball has ever seen.
And let me make this clear from the beginning: Steph deserved it.
What Curry did during the 2015–16 season was ridiculous. He averaged 30.1 points per game, led the NBA in scoring and steals, made 402 three-pointers, and helped lead Golden State to an NBA-record 73 wins. There was no reason to give the first-place vote to anybody else.
Steph deserved to be a unanimous MVP.
But should he really have been the first?
When you go back through NBA history, there are several legendary MVP seasons that make you wonder how anybody voted for someone else. Michael Jordan has one of them. LeBron James has one of them. But after looking at the strongest cases, there is one player who stands above the rest when answering this question.
Michael Jordan — 1987–88
Let’s start with perhaps the craziest individual season of the three.
Michael Jordan averaged 35.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 3.2 steals and 1.6 blocks per game while shooting 53.5% from the field.
He won the scoring title. He led the NBA in steals. He won MVP. And somehow, while averaging 35 points per game, he also won Defensive Player of the Year.
Read that again.
Jordan was voted the best player in basketball and the best defensive player in basketball during the same season while also leading the league in scoring.
If we were judging purely by individual dominance, there is absolutely an argument that Jordan should have been unanimous.
But there is one problem.
The Bulls went 50–32.
That is a good record, but it was nowhere near the best in basketball. Magic Johnson’s Lakers won 62 games, while Larry Bird’s Celtics won 57. Both were having incredible seasons themselves, so you can at least understand why some voters looked at team success and went in another direction.
Jordan received only 47 of the 80 first-place votes.
His season was unbelievable, but considering where Chicago stood compared with the Lakers and Celtics, I can at least understand why the vote was not unanimous.
So Jordan is not my answer.
LeBron James — 2012–13
Now this one gets much closer.
LeBron James in 2012–13 was basketball perfection.
He averaged 26.8 points, 8.0 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game, shot an absurd 56.5% from the field and 40.6% from three, and was one of the best defensive players in basketball.
Miami went 66–16, the best record in the NBA, and at one point won 27 consecutive games.
LeBron could score, facilitate, rebound, defend multiple positions and completely control a basketball game. There really was not a weakness in his MVP case.
The voters recognized it.
LeBron received 120 of 121 first-place MVP votes.
One voter selected Carmelo Anthony instead.
To me, that should never have happened.
LeBron James absolutely should have been a unanimous MVP in 2012–13. He deserved all 121 first-place votes. The numbers were there, the efficiency was ridiculous, the defense was elite, and Miami had the best record in basketball.
But there is an important distinction.
LeBron should have been unanimous. He should not have been the first unanimous MVP.
Because NBA history should have already had one by the time LeBron put together that season.
Thirteen years earlier, another player had also received 120 of 121 first-place votes.
Shaquille O’Neal — 1999–00
And this is where the debate ends for me.
Shaq absolutely dominated the NBA during the 1999–00 season, averaging 29.7 points, 13.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.0 blocks per game while shooting 57.4% from the field.
He won the scoring title and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. At the same time, the Lakers went 67–15, finishing with the best record in basketball.
That is exactly what I want from a unanimous MVP.
Shaq dominated offensively. He dominated defensively. And his team was the most successful team in the NBA.
The voters overwhelmingly agreed. Shaq received 120 of 121 first-place MVP votes.
The only other first-place vote went to Allen Iverson.
Iverson was great that season, averaging 28.4 points per game, but he finished seventh in the overall MVP voting.
That is what makes the missing vote so difficult to understand. This was not someone choosing the clear second-best MVP candidate over Shaq. One voter selected a player who ultimately finished seventh in the race.
That one ballot prevented history.
Jordan had an unbelievable individual season in 1988, but his team did not have the same level of success. LeBron absolutely should have been unanimous in 2013, but by then the NBA should have already had its first unanimous MVP.
It should have happened in 2000.
Shaq had everything: individual dominance, elite defense, the scoring title and the best record in basketball.
He received 120 of 121 votes.
He should have received 121.
Shaquille O’Neal should have been the NBA’s first unanimous MVP.
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