The NBA, much like the entire world, is on an indefinite hiatus. No games, no practices, no trades, no signings… nothing. NBA fans have been left to just look back at highlights and historic games, but that doesn’t mean we can’t talk about anything. Today we look at the most dominant seasons by a player in the past decade, and there have been some all-time great ones.
#5: Kawhi Leonard (2018-2019 – Toronto Raptors)
Season stats: 27 PTS – 7 TRB – 3 AST – 2 STL; 50% FG – 37% 3P – 85% FT
Playoff stats: 31 PTS – 9 TRB – 4 AST – 2 STL – 1 BLK; 49% FG – 38% 3P – 89% FT
Awards: NBA Champ, Finals MVP, 2nd team All-NBA, 2nd team All-Defensive
There’s only one thing you can take away from Kawhi last season: The fact that the Warriors didn’t have Kevin Durant when the Raptors faced Golden State in the NBA Finals. He didn’t have the opportunity to beat the best, but that’s hardly Kawhi’s fault.
He got traded to Toronto, after falling out with Gregg Popovich in San Antonio the season before, and immediately won the championship for his new ballclub. His load management, which now has come under huge scrutiny, helped him be ready for a historic playoff run. He hit the first ever game 7 buzzer-beating game winner, against the 76ers in the second round; Then he dismantled the Bucks with reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo; And to finish it off, he beat the back-to-back NBA champions, the Golden State Warriors, in 6 games.
His brief run in Canada was historic and dominant enough to catapult him to the top of the “best player in the game”-discussion. Wherever Kawhi went, that’s who would be the favorites to win the chip the next year.
#4: LeBron James (2015-2016 – Cleveland Cavaliers)
Season stats: 25 PTS – 7 TRB – 7 AST – 1 STL – 1 BLK; 52% FG – 31% 3P – 73%FT
Playoff stats: 26 – 10 – 8 – 2 – 1; 53% FG – 34% 3P – 66% FT
Awards: NBA Champ, Finals MVP, 1st team All-NBA
You look at these stats for LeBron and think “He can do this in his sleep.”
As a matter of fact, he probably can. These numbers don’t look that impressive compared to LeBron James standards. His lowest scoring season since his rookie season, less assists than his career average, bad 3-point shooting.
In the end, it didn’t matter at all. LeBron James led the Cavaliers to their first, and his third, NBA championship after coming back from down 3-1 against the 73-9 Golden State Warriors. That alone gives him (or rather, this season, as he will be back on this ranking) a place on this list.
He did the unthinkable. The first team to come back from a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals, and to do it against the reigning champions, the best regular season team ever with the reigning back-to-back MVP Stephen Curry. His block on Iguodala has already been immortalized, and so has his ’15-’16 season.
#3: Stephen Curry (2015-2016 – Golden State Warriors)
Season stats: 30 PTS – 5 TRB – 7 AST – 2 STL; 50% FG – 45% 3P – 91% FT
Playoff stats: 25 – 5 – 5 – 1; 44% FG – 40% 3P – 92% FT
Awards: Regular season MVP (unanimous), Scoring + Steals champ
If you think LeBron’s season that year should be ahead of Steph’s, think again. Stephen Curry became the first person to win the MVP award unanimously (sorry, Shaq); He led his team to the best record (73-9) and best start (24-0) in NBA history; He set a record for 3’s made in a season with 402, beating his own record by 116 3’s; He became only the second member of the 50-45-90 club; He led the league in scoring and steals.
And it’s not like he didn’t show up in the playoffs. The Warriors lost in game 7 of the Finals by 4 points. Steph Curry was unstoppable that season and clearly deserves his place on this list. Men lie, women lie, stats don’t.
#2: Kevin Durant (2016-2017 – Golden State Warriors)
Season stats: 25 PTS – 8 TRB – 5 AST – 1 STL – 2 BLK; 54% FG – 38% 3P – 88%FT
Playoff stats: 29 PTS – 8 TRB – 4 AST – 1 STL – 1 BLK; 56% FG – 44% 3P – 89%FT
Finals stats: 35 PTS – 8 TRB – 5 AST – 1 STL – 2 BLK; 56% FG – 47% 3P – 93% FT
Awards: NBA champ, Finals MVP, 2nd team All-NBA
KD came into the season as the most hated man in all of basketball, maybe even sports. A top-3 player in the world joining a team that set the record for wins the year before and blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals, not to mention the fact the he himself was up 3-1 against those same Warriors in the WCF the year before.
Before the season even started, we heard that this was unfair. And it showed in the Finals. Durant got better throughout the season and settled in perfectly, and when the Finals started, so did the fireworks. He scored over 30 in each game and hit big shot after big shot to finally get revenge on LeBron for the 2012 NBA Finals.
Durant would go on to win Finals MVP and do it all over again the next year. The Warriors and KD were unstoppable in their run together, but in 2017, when all the pressure was on them, they went 16-1 in the playoffs to shut the critics up. All they had to say then was “it’s unfair.”
#1: LeBron James (2011-2013 – Miami Heat)
Stretch stats: 27 PTS – 8 TRB – 7 AST – 2 STL – 1 BLK; 55% FG – 39% 3P – 76%FT
Playoff stats: 29 PTS – 9 TRB – 6 AST – 2 STL – 1 BLK; 50% FG – 32% 3P – 76%FT
Awards: 2x regular season and Finals MVP, 2x NBA Champ, 2x first team All-Def
When you can’t choose, just take both. LeBron James absolutely dominated and destroyed the league in 2012 and 2013, after losing in embarrassing fashion in the Finals the year before. Dwyane Wade gave the keys to the King and he delivered.
He made a statement in Game 6 of the ECF against the Celtics in 2012 and continued to carry on with those statement games in the Finals against OKC with a budding superstar trio of Westbrook, Durant and Harden. The next year, against the experienced Spurs, LeBron dominated again in game 6 and 7 on his way to his second championship.
This was villain LeBron, hated because he formed a superteam in Miami with Wade and Bosh and ridiculed because of his performance in the 2011 NBA Finals. And villain Bron was scary. Easily one of the most dominant players in NBA history in this two-year stretch.
Courtside 