OPINION

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By Grayson Boyd

From players averaging triple-doubles, to unreal scoring averages, all while leading their team to insanely impressive seasons, the NBA is jam-packed with players with historic seasons. From Wilt Chamberlain averaging over 50 points and 20 rebounds in a season, to Russell Westbrook averaging a triple-double for three consecutive seasons, some players have been dominant on a whole different level. 

Ranking the greatest individual seasons in NBA history is not easy task. It is challenging to compare seasons from different eras of the NBA, as offense and defense have been played much differently throughout the history of the NBA, so it makes it hard to draw many comparisons. For this reason, I decided to focus on just the last decade. In evaluating the best individual seasons from the last ten years, any player considered must have won the NBA MVP (Most Valuable Player) that season, and the season must have had some major historical significance that makes their season standout. 

  Number 3: 2019-2020 Giannis Antetokounmpo

Antetokounmpo dunks right over a defender. Photo credit: Brian Babineau/Getty Images.

Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 2019-2020 season seems to go under the radar when discussing historically great seasons. The dominant Milwaukee Bucks 7-foot tall point guard/small forward has been unstoppable throughout his brief career. At just age 25, Antetokounmpo already has won two consecutive MVPs, and it does not look like he will stop winning them anytime soon. He is too tall to be guarded by a guard, but far too athletic to be guarded by a big man, so the opposing team can’t do much to slow him down.  

In his seventh season, Antetokounmpo averaged 29.5 points (5th in NBA) and 13.6 rebounds (2nd in NBA) per game, which were both career-high marks, in addition to averaging 5.6 assists a game and shooting 55.3% from the field. Antetokounmpo became the first player since Wilt Chamberlain in 1965-66, and only the third player all-time, to average at least 29.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists over the course of a season. Along with winning MVP he also managed to win Defensive Player Of The Year (DPOY) for his outstanding work on defense, becoming only the third player ever to win both the MVP and DPOY in the same year, along with Michael Jordan and Hakeem Olajuwon. 

This amazing season did not end how Giannis hoped, though, as in an injury-riddled series his first seeded Milwaukee Bucks were upset in the playoffs by Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat.      

Number 2: 2015-16 Stephen Curry 

Stephen Curry shoots his signature 3 point shot in the face of a defender. Photo credit :Ezra Shaw/Getty Image.

The road to Curry and the Warriors’ second consecutive Finals appearance was one of the greatest the league has ever seen. Curry was straight-up magic in 2016. It’s when he made his claim as the best player in the world and solidified that he was the best shooter ever. He averaged 30 points per game, with seven assists and six rebounds, making an unbelievable 45 percent of 11 threes per game. He shot 50 percent from the field in total and 91 percent from the line. Curry led the Warriors to the best record in NBA history, winning 73 games and losing only 9. He also led the league in steals and averaged around seven assists per game. He was the first-ever unanimous league MVP, as no other player got a single first-place vote from the voters. Curry broke the record for most 3 pointers in a season with an astounding 402 makes. Curry’s ability to drain almost any shot from inside the paint to the midcourt logo was unlike ever before and it can be argued that no other player has changed how the NBA is played. Curry and his fellow splash brother, Klay Thompson, showed just how valuable the three-point shot is and how unnecessary mid-range shots are. For this reason, Curry’s season stands out compared to many other similar seasons as the way he used the three-point shot has changed the league for years to come. 

Everyone, of course, remembers how this ended, though. The Warriors blew a 3-1 NBA Finals lead to LeBron James’ Cavaliers, which caused people to forget how dominant Curry and his Warriors had been that year.      

Number 1: 2016-17 Russell Westbrook 

Russell Westbrook energizes the crowd. Photo credit: Zach Beeker/NBAE via Getty Images.

One of the most criminally underrated and most hated players in NBA history, Russell Westbrook comes in at first with the greatest season of his, or anyone’s, career in the last decade. During the 2016-2017 NBA season, Westbrook managed to average a triple-double throughout the entire season. Before this season, only one player in NBA history had averaged a triple-double over an entire NBA season. A triple-double is when a player gets at least ten points, rebounds, and assists in a game, and Westbrook averaged 31.6 ppg, 10.7 RPG, and 10.4 APG on one of the most efficient shooting seasons of his career, shooting 42.5% from the field and 34.3% from behind the arc.

During this season, he was often accused of “stat-padding,” because fans thought he cared more about his stats in every individual game instead of his team winning. This argument could not be more baseless, as Westbrook’s statistical outputs helped the team win dramatically. He was often criticized for stealing rebounds from his teammates, but he only would pursue every rebound due to his ability to gash the opposing team in transition.

Westbrook addressed the stat-padding and rebound-stealing criticism in an interview when he said, “A lot of people make jokes about whatever, stat-padding or going to get rebounds. If people could get 20 rebounds every night, they would. If people could ******* get 15 rebounds, they would. People that’s talking or saying whatever they need to say, they should try doing it and see how hard it is.” Westbrook showed his true passion for the game here, as it is always clear on the court no other player wants to win more than he does.

The 2016-17 season was also the first season after Kevin “The Snake” Durant slivered away to the Golden State Warriors, which created possibly the greatest chip on someone’s shoulder entering an NBA season. Westbrook received even more hate because he didn’t lead the team beyond the first round in the playoffs, but I just think this is unfair. He had relatively no support besides an average center in Steven Adams and a pre-prime Victor Oladipo, whom Coach Billy Donovan used as a spot-up shooter instead of a primary ballhandler, the role he thrives in. 

The culminating game of the season was on April 9, 2017, when Westbrook’s Thunder went up against the Denver Nuggets in Denver. This game was important for both teams, as the Thunder were looking to improve their playoff ranking, while the Nuggets needed to win to avoid elimination. With his team down by 14 points with around six minutes remaining, Westbrook was responsible for the team’s last 21 points, scoring 18 and assisting on three. That assist was very important, as he notched his tenth assist of the game, earning him his 42nd triple-double of the season, breaking the great Oscar Robertson’s legendary record of 41.

With the Thunder down by two, and 2.9 seconds left on the clock, it was time for Westbrook to shine. Securing the ball way beyond the three-point line, Westbrook launched a DEEP three-pointer that sunk perfectly into the net as time expired. The Thunder’s commentating crew summed the moment up perfectly when one member shouted, “What a perfect ending to a historic day!” as Westbrook and his teammates celebrated at midcourt in front of the newly eliminated Denver Nuggets and their fans.

Although the season ended in a way Westbrook was hoping, with a first-round exit to James Harden and the Houston Rockets, he was able to post 51, 47, and 35-point triple-doubles in five games, showcasing that he did everything he could. Yet he proved once again that one player with an average (at best) surrounding cast cannot thrive in the playoffs. 

Honorable Mentions: LeBron James and James Harden 

Both LeBron “King” James and James Harden were very difficult to leave off of this list of great seasons from the last decade, but I had to add them in as honorable mentions. Few other players in the history of the league have dominated the way James has, day in and day out, for the last 17 years, and he does not look like he will slow down in the foreseeable future. Entering the realm of Jordan’s level greatness, James has clearly been the best player of the past ten years, but he doesn’t have a season that is greater than any of the three reasons listed in here. James had to be mentioned, as his consistency and success are too remarkable to ignore. There is a reason that when people bring up the “GOAT conversation” that the only two players mentioned are James and Jordan. James won three MVPs in the decade, and I was very close to including his 2012-2013 season. That season James’ Miami Heat dominated the league en route to an NBA championship and his fourth MVP. His stats weren’t as great as Antetokounmpo’s recent season, so Giannis earned the slight edge. 

Harden could also not be ignored, as his legendary scoring outputs never seem to stop. When it comes to volume scorers, there may not be another player in NBA history that can match was Harden does every game. Harden’s consistently been top five in MVP voting in recent years, and if it weren’t for other players having record-breaking seasons, he could have three or four MVPs to this date. There is definitely a reason the term “Fear the Beard” was coined, as it is quite scary what Harden can do when the ball lands in his hands.  

Featured image credit: Sue Ogrocki/Associated Press.