(Originally posted on Saturday, 13 April 2019)
I was inspired to create this post by the historic 2018-19 regular season recorded by James Harden. He is is the ONLY player EVER to have per-game averages of at least 34.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists AND he finished with MUCH better averages than these – he actually had the per-game averages of 36.1 points, 6.6 rebounds and 7.5 assists. This is a record that would be VERY hard to beat.
Different configurations of the statistic thresholds will give different cases of “the only player ever”, but we can always simply check what were the per-game overall values of all the payers.
As always I ignored all the seasons prior to the season 1976-77 because after the NBA merged with the ABA the NBA players’ job became more difficult. During the appropriate analysis I also realised that in the season 1976-77 there were no individual turnovers recorded (only the team turnovers were recorded), so two of the all-time lists below (the overall list and the playmaking list) were based on the regular seasons from 1977-78 to 2018-19. Two other all-time lists (the scoring list and the defensive list) were based on the regular seasons from 1976-77 to 2018-19 because these lists don’t take turnovers into account.
The lists below are based on the values of NBA statistics that I calculated here:
How to compare NBA players comprehensively
All the statistical data I used I found on this site:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/
The overall list takes everything into account.
The scoring list is based on the values of: 2P, 3P, FT, 2P-scoring-efficiency, 3P-scoring-efficiency and FT-scoring-efficiency.
The playmaking list is based on the values of assists and turnovers.
The defensive list is based on the values of rebounds, steals and blocks.
Please remember that the lists below do NOT take into account team records and that the minimum threshold was 41 games played in a season (a relatively low threshold).
The highest per-game values in the regular seasons from 1977-78 to 2018-19:
1. James Harden* (2018-19): 34.5
2. Michael Jordan (1988-89): 33.9
3. Michael Jordan (1987-88): 33.4
4. Michael Jordan (1989-90): 32.9
5. Russell Westbrook (2016-17): 32.2
6. Michael Jordan (1986-87): 31.6
7. Stephen Curry (2015-16): 31.6
8. Larry Bird (1987-88): 31.5
9. David Robinson (1993-94): 31.4
10. Larry Bird (1986-87): 31.3
11. James Harden (2016-17): 31.2
12. Kevin Durant (2013-14): 31.2
13. Giannis Antetokounmpo** (2018-19): 31.1
14. Larry Bird (1984-85): 31.1
15. LeBron James (2009-10): 30.9
16. Michael Jordan (1990-91): 30.8
17. Hakeem Olajuwon (1992-93): 30.7
18. James Harden (2017-18): 30.7
19. Michael Jordan (1992-93): 30.5
20. Anthony Davis (2017-18): 30.4
* James Harden is at the top of the all-time list! His current (2018-19) regular season has been clearly better than Russel Westbrook's historic season (his first triple-double season). James Harden got to the all-time top-20 for the third time!
** Giannis Antetokounmpo got to the all-time top-20 for the first time.
The highest per-game values in the regular season 2018-19:
1. James Harden: 34.5
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo: 31.1
3. Anthony Davis: 30.3
4. Joel Embiid: 29.4
5. LeBron James: 28.3
6. Paul George: 28.0
7. Stephen Curry: 27.8
8. Karl-Anthony Towns: 27.6
9. Kevin Durant: 26.7
10. Kawhi Leonard: 26.2
11. Russell Westbrook: 26.1
12. Damian Lillard: 25.6
13. Nikola Jokic: 25.1
14. Kyrie Irving: 24.9
15. Nikola Vucevic: 24.7
16. Bradley Beal: 24.4
17. Kemba Walker: 23.7
18. Blake Griffin: 23.4
19. Devin Booker: 23.2
20. Andre Drummond: 22.5
The highest per-game scoring values in the regular seasons from 1976-77 to 2018-19:
1. James Harden* (2018-19): 27.0
2. Stephen Curry (2015-16): 24.3
3. Michael Jordan (1986-87): 24.2
4. Michael Jordan (1987-88): 24.2
5. Kevin Durant (2013-14): 23.9
6. Michael Jordan (1989-90): 23.6
7. Kobe Bryant (2005-06): 23.6
8. Michael Jordan (1988-89): 22.9
9. James Harden (2017-18): 22.6
10. Adrian Dantley (1983-84): 22.6
11. George Gervin (1979-80): 22.5
12. Michael Jordan (1990-91): 21.9
13. Isaiah Thomas (2016-17): 21.8
14. Bernard King (1984-85): 21.8
15. Kobe Bryant (2006-07): 21.7
16. Kevin Durant (2009-10): 21.7
17. Karl Malone (1989-90): 21.6
18. Stephen Curry** (2018-19): 21.6
19. Adrian Dantley (1980-81): 21.5
20. Michael Jordan (1992-93): 21.5
* James Harden is at the top of the all-time list! His current (2018-19) regular season has been clearly better than Stephen Curry's historic season (his second MVP season). James Harden got to the all-time top-20 for the second time.
** Stephen Curry got to the all-time top-20 for the second time too.
The highest per-game scoring values in the regular season 2018-19:
1. James Harden: 27.0
2. Stephen Curry: 21.6
3. Paul George: 20.0
4. Giannis Antetokounmpo: 19.7
5. Kevin Durant: 19.2
6. Kawhi Leonard: 19.0
7. Joel Embiid: 18.8
8. Damian Lillard: 18.6
9. Devin Booker: 18.5
10. LeBron James: 18.3
11. Karl-Anthony Towns: 17.8
12. Anthony Davis: 17.8
13. Bradley Beal: 17.7
14. Kemba Walker: 17.4
15. Kyrie Irving: 17.1
16. Blake Griffin: 16.8
17. Zach LaVine: 16.2
18. Donovan Mitchell: 15.3
19. Danilo Gallinari: 15.2
20. Klay Thompson: 15.1
The highest per-game playmaking values in the regular seasons from 1977-78 to 2018-19:
1. John Stockton (1989-90): 8.0
2. John Stockton (1987-88): 7.7
3. John Stockton (1990-91): 7.5
4. John Stockton (1991-92): 7.3
5. Isiah Thomas (1984-85): 7.2
6. John Stockton (1988-89): 7.0
7. Muggsy Bogues (1989-90): 6.7
8. John Stockton (1993-94): 6.7
9. Chris Paul (2007-08): 6.6
10. John Stockton (1994-95): 6.4
11. Kevin Porter (1978-79): 6.4
12. John Stockton (1992-93): 6.2
13. Chris Paul (2013-14): 6.1
14. Magic Johnson (1985-86): 6.1
15. John Lucas (1983-84): 6.1
16. Magic Johnson (1988-89): 6.0
17. Chris Paul (2009-10): 5.9
18. Magic Johnson (1984-85): 5.9
19. Magic Johnson (1990-91): 5.8
20. Magic Johnson (1986-87): 5.8
The highest per-game playmaking values in the regular season 2018-19:
1. Jeff Teague: 4.1
2. Kyle Lowry: 4.0
3. Russell Westbrook: 3.9
4. Chris Paul: 3.8
5. Rajon Rondo: 3.5
6. Elfrid Payton: 3.3
7. Mike Conley: 3.2
8. Tyus Jones: 3.1
9. Darren Collison: 3.1
10. John Wall: 3.0
11. Jrue Holiday: 2.9
12. De'Aaron Fox: 2.9
13. Kyrie Irving: 2.8
14. LeBron James: 2.8
15. Draymond Green: 2.8
16. Damian Lillard: 2.7
17. D.J. Augustin: 2.5
18. Nikola Jokic: 2.5
19. Ben Simmons: 2.5
20. Fred VanVleet: 2.5
The highest per-game defensive values in the regular seasons from 1976-77 to 2018-19:
1. Hakeem Olajuwon (1989-90): 15.4
2. Hakeem Olajuwon (1990-91): 14.6
3. Ben Wallace (2002-03): 14.3
4. Hakeem Olajuwon (1988-89): 14.3
5. David Robinson (1991-92): 14.3
6. Hakeem Olajuwon (1992-93): 14.1
7. Moses Malone (1978-79): 13.7
8. Dennis Rodman (1991-92): 13.6
9. Hakeem Olajuwon (1991-92): 13.6
10. David Robinson (1990-91): 13.6
11. Bill Walton (1976-77): 13.4
12. Ben Wallace (2001-02): 13.3
13. Andre Drummond* (2018-19): 13.3
14. Mark Eaton (1984-85): 13.3
15. Mark Eaton (1984-85): 13.3
16. Dennis Rodman (1992-93): 13.2
17. Andre Drummond (2017-18): 13.2
18. Shaquille O'Neal (1992-93): 13.1
19. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1978-79): 13.0
20. David Robinson (1989-90): 13.0
* Andre Drummond got to the all-time top-20 for the second time.
The highest per-game defensive values in the regular season 2018-19:
1. Andre Drummond: 13.3
2. Anthony Davis: 11.5
3. Joel Embiid: 11.3
4. Rudy Gobert: 11.3
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo: 10.7
6. Karl-Anthony Towns: 10.4
7. Clint Capela: 10.3
8. DeAndre Jordan: 10.0
9. Hassan Whiteside: 9.8
10. Nikola Vucevic: 9.7
11. Russell Westbrook: 9.2
12. Jusuf Nurkic: 9.0
13. Nikola Jokic: 8.8
14. Deandre Ayton: 8.3
15. Steven Adams: 8.3
16. Myles Turner: 8.0
17. LaMarcus Aldridge: 7.7
18. Ben Simmons: 7.6
19. Tristan Thompson: 7.5
20. Paul George: 7.5
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