Over the long history of the NBA, there have been many incredible players and legends and thus many extraordinary individual campaigns. Although some of them had special advantages and conditions for integration, none of them were absolutely undeserving at all. In this article, we will take a look at some of the greatest individual seasons in NBA history. Scoring high records, rebounds, assists, blocks, individual awards and championships have been taken into account. There will be many big seasons missing from the list, but the best of the best are right here.
10) Wilt Chamberlain (1959-1960)
Wilt Chamberlain’s first season was just a glimpse of an illustrious NBA career with numerous awards and accomplishments, both individually and collectively. He was Rookie of the Year and got into the All-Star game, where he was also the most valuable player, leader in points per game with 37.6, leader in rebounds per game with 27 and leader in Player Efficiency Rating and Win Shares. Despite such amazing individual numbers, the Boston Celtics were the champions that year.
9) Giannis Antetokounmpo (2019-2020)
Giannis Antetokounmpo is turning into a more and more fantastic player every year. He had his most stellar individual campaign so far in 2019–2020. “The Greek Freak” started a total of 63 games, averaging 29.5 points, 13.6 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game and had a player efficiency rating of 31.9 and 11.5 box plus/minus. Giannis also earned a spot on the All-NBA Team, All-Defensive Team, and was named Defensive Player of the Year and MVP. Unfortunately, he did not win the NBA ring with the Milwaukee Bucks that year.
8) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1975-1976)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was at one point the all-time NBA scoring leader with 38,387 points but is now surpassed by LeBron James. Kareem’s one of the most outstanding campaigns of his career was in the 1975–76 season with the Lakers. He averaged 27.7 points, 16.9 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 4.1 blocks per game. “Lew” also led the league in triple-doubles, VORP, Player efficiency rating, win shares and he was the MVP of the season.
7) Bill Russell (1964-1965)
The 1964–65 season was amazing for both Bill Russell and his team, the Boston Celtics. He was the MVP, made an All-Star Game appearance, rebounding champion and got his seventh consecutive NBA Championship ring. In the playoffs, he recorded 25.2 rebounds, 16.5 points and 6.3 assists per game, which is absolutely phenomenal.
6) Wilt Chamberlain (1961-1962)
Wilt Chamberlain had a terrific year in his third NBA season. He scored 4029 points and had an impressive average of 50.4 points per game, as well as an amazing average of 25.7 rebounds per game. “The Big Dipper” scored more than 60 points in 15 games that year, including a record-setting game against the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962, in which he scored 100 points. But the surprising thing is that he was named MVP of the season. Bill Russell was the MVP that year instead.
5) LeBron James (2011-2012)
Throughout his NBA career, LeBron James has been a fairly consistent player and his excellent statistics reflect this. “King James” always posts great averages both offensively and defensively, but his best campaign so far was in 2011–12. He was the season MVP and Finals MVP for the Miami Heat and made an All-Star Game appearance. James averaged 27.1 points per game, 7.9 rebounds per game, 6.2 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.8 blocks per game.
4) Michael Jordan (1995-1996)
Michael Jordan had a legendary NBA career and is called the G.O.A.T., but there was a time when he left basketball for two years to experiment with playing baseball. However, when Jordan returned, he reclaimed his throne in a very solid way. In his first full-season after that absence, “His Airness” averaged 30.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 2.2 steals per game, in addition to the impressive play he displayed throughout his career. MJ led the Bulls to the NBA Championship once again, was the MVP, Finals MVP, All-Star MVP, scoring champion and was the leader in VORP.
3) Nikola Jokić (2022-2023)
Nikola Jokic has been incredible since his NBA debut in 2015. Jokic had an incredible 2021–22 season where he averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists, but his stats got even better in the next season (2022–23). “Joker” led the Denver Nuggets to their first ever NBA championship by averaging 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 9.8 assists. He was selected in the All-Star game and was the Finals MVP as well.
2) Michael Jordan (1987-1988)
When Michael Jordan was only 24 years old, he had a dream season, but the Detroit Pistons were able to avoid a potentially perfect season for “Air Jordan” by eliminating his Chicago Bulls in the playoffs. However, in the regular season, Jordan managed to lead the way by averaging 35 points and 3.2 steals per game. His VORP was 12.5 and box plus/minus (13.0). Jordan made All-NBA and All-Defensive teams, went to the All-Star Game, where he was also the Most Valuable Player, and won the MVP award and the Defensive Player of the Year award as well.
1) Shaquille O’Neal (1999-2000)
In 1999-2000, Shaquille O’Neal had arguably the greatest season in league history. To date, no individual season has been so impressive both individually and collectively. Scoring champion with 29.7 points per game, second best rebounder with 13.6 per game, third best blocker with 3.0 per game, box plus/minus of 9.3, first in VORP, All-Star Game MVP, Season MVP and Finals MVP for the LA Lakers.
Also Read: 10 Facts About Chicago Bulls That NBA Fans Should Know
