The Best MVP Seasons in NBA History
The Best MVP Seasons in NBA History

by Ben Leibowitz

Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry repeated as the NBA's Most Valuable Player in 2016, becoming the first player ever to be voted MVP unanimously. But where did Curry's historic campaign rank against his MVP-winning peers in the scope of NBA history?

Admittedly, that's an incredibly difficult question to answer. Should eras be weighted differently? Should individual stats outweigh team wins, or vice versa?

In order to peg the best MVP seasons in NBA history, PointAfter aimed to include important parts of both individual and team successes. The former was measured by a player's win shares per 48 minutes -- which helped prevent penalizing players who played fewer minutes per game (we can't exactly dock Curry for sitting out a number of fourth quarters this season as the Dubs cruised to victory) or those who played during seasons shortened by lockouts. The latter was tied to team winning percentage. Since both figures are represented as decimals, we simply added win shares per 48 minutes and winning percentage to create a composite score for each player, then ranked the list accordingly.

This inherently puts a greater emphasis on winning as a team, but what's more important than that?

It's worth noting that we only accounted for regular season exploits, because that's all awards voters consider. MVPs who went on to win championships in that season were not given added points, just like players whose teams flamed out early in the playoffs were not penalized.

Additionally, respected advanced stats like player efficiency rating (PER) or box plus/minus (BPM) may be a preferred method of measuring individual prowess in the game today, but neither dates back far enough to provide much use. PER presents problems because today's calculation includes three-point shooting, steals and blocks -- all statistical categories that did not exist until the 1970s. Likewise, BPM does not exist before 1973-74, so it couldn't provide added insights across eras.

#31. Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves

Season: 2003-04
Age: 27
Season Stats: 24.2 PPG, 13.9 RPG, 5.0 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.272 (18.3)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.707 (58-24)

#30. Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs

Season: 2002-03
Age: 26
Season Stats: 23.3 PPG, 12.9 RPG, 3.9 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.248 (16.5)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.732 (60-22)

#29. Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers

Season: 1980-81
Age: 30
Season Stats: 24.6 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 4.4 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.231 (13.8)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.756 (62-20)

#28. Karl Malone, Utah Jazz

Season: 1998-99
Age: 35
Season Stats: 23.8 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 4.1 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.252 (9.6)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.740 (37-13)

#27. Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls

Season: 1997-98
Age: 34
Season Stats: 28.7 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 3.5 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.238 (15.8)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.756 (62-20)

#26. LeBron James, Miami Heat

Season: 2011-12
Age: 27
Season Stats: 27.1 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 6.2 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.298 (14.5)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.697 (46-20)

#25. Dave Cowens, Boston Celtics

Season: 1972-73
Age: 24
Season Stats: 20.5 PPG, 16.2 RPG, 4.1 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.168 (12)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.829 (68-14)

#24. Charles Barkley, Phoenix Suns

Season: 1992-93
Age: 29
Season Stats: 25.6 PPG, 12.2 RPG, 5.1 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.242 (14.4)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.756 (62-20)

#23. Larry Bird, Boston Celtics

Season: 1984-85
Age: 28
Season Stats: 28.7 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 6.6 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.238 (15.7)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.768 (63-19)

#22. Bill Russell, Boston Celtics

Season: 1964-65
Age: 30
Season Stats: 14.1 PPG, 24.1 RPG, 5.3 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.234 (16.9)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.775 (62-18)

#21. Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia 76ers

Season: 1967-68
Age: 31
Season Stats: 24.3 PPG, 23.8 RPG, 8.6 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.255 (20.4)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.756 (62-20)

#20. Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder

Season: 2013-14
Age: 25
Season Stats: 32.0 PPG, 7.4 RPG, 5.5 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.295 (19.2)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.720 (59-23)

#19. David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs

Season: 1994-95
Age: 29
Season Stats: 27.6 PPG, 10.8 RPG, 2.9 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.273 (17.5)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.756 (62-20)

#18. Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers

Season: 1989-90
Age: 30
Season Stats: 22.3 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 11.5 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.27 (16.5)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.768 (63-19)

#17. Moses Malone, Philadelphia 76ers

Season: 1982-83
Age: 27
Season Stats: 24.5 PPG, 15.3 RPG, 1.3 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.248 (15.1)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.793 (65-17)

#16. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers

Season: 2009-10
Age: 25
Season Stats: 29.7 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 8.6 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.299 (18.5)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.744 (61-21)

#15. Karl Malone, Utah Jazz

Season: 1996-97
Age: 33
Season Stats: 27.4 PPG, 9.9 RPG, 4.5 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.268 (16.7)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.780 (64-18)

#14. Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers

Season: 1986-87
Age: 27
Season Stats: 23.9 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 12.2 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.263 (15.9)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.793 (65-17)

#13. Larry Bird, Boston Celtics

Season: 1985-86
Age: 29
Season Stats: 25.8 PPG, 9.8 RPG, 6.8 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.244 (15.8)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.817 (67-15)

#12. Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls

Season: 1990-91
Age: 27
Season Stats: 31.5 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 5.5 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.321 (20.3)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.744 (61-21)

#11. Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls

Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan drives past Ron Mercer of the Boston Celtics.

Season: 1991-92
Age: 28
Season Stats: 30.1 PPG, 6.4 RPG, 6.1 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.274 (17.7)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.817 (67-15)

#10. Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks

Season: 2006-07
Age: 28
Season Stats: 24.6 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 3.4 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.278 (16.3)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.817 (67-15)

#9. Shaquille O'Neal, Los Angeles Lakers

Season: 1999-00
Age: 27
Season Stats: 29.7 PPG, 13.6 RPG, 3.8 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.283 (18.6)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.817 (67-15)

#8. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

Season: 2014-15
Age: 26
Season Stats: 23.8 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 7.7 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.288 (15.7)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.817 (67-15)

#7. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee Bucks

Season: 1971-72
Age: 24
Season Stats: 34.8 PPG, 16.6 RPG, 4.6 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.34 (25.4)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.768 (63-19)

#6. LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers

Former NBA Commissioner David Stern, left, presents LeBron James with the 2008-09 MVP trophy.

Season: 2008-09
Age: 24
Season Stats: 28.4 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 7.2 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.318 (20.3)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.805 (66-16)

#5. Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia 76ers

Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia 76ers celebrates with champagne in the locker room after his team clinched the division in 1967.

Season: 1966-67
Age: 30
Season Stats: 24.1 PPG, 24.2 RPG, 7.8 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.285 (21.9)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.840 (68-13)

#4. LeBron James, Miami Heat

LeBron James sits with his MVP trophy during a news conference in 2013.

Season: 2012-13
Age: 28
Season Stats: 26.8 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 7.3 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.322 (19.3)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.805 (66-16)

#3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee Bucks

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar skies to dunk during a game against the Chicago Bulls in 1970.

Season: 1970-71
Age: 23
Season Stats: 31.7 PPG, 16.0 RPG, 3.3 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.326 (22.3)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.805 (66-16)

#2. Michael Jordan, Chicago Bulls

Season: 1995-96
Age: 32
Season Stats: 30.4 PPG, 6.6 RPG, 4.3 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.317 (20.4)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.878 (72-10)

#1. Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors

Season: 2015-16
Age: 27
Season Stats: 30.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 6.7 APG
Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (Total Win Shares): 0.318 (17.9)
Team Winning Percentage (Win/Loss Record): 0.890 (73-9)

Article: Courtesy Point After

NBA Basketball: "The Best MVP Seasons in NBA History"