The game of basketball is a team sport, and you cannot win titles without the entire team playing with utmost chemistry. While this is true, a championship-caliber team also needs a clear-cut leader on whom other players can rely during tough times.
Over the years in the NBA, we have seen some pretty amazing individual seasons from NBA superstars. But today, we are focusing on four such seasons by four fantastic NBA stars.
It’s a debate among the versions of 2000 Shaquille O’Neal, 2013 LeBron James, 2016 Stephen Curry, and 2020 Giannis Antetokounmpo. Taking a look at each player’s season in question, these were arguably the best individual seasons for them throughout their careers.
2000 Shaquille O’Neal: 29.7 PPG, 13.6 RPG, 3.8 APG, 3.0 BPG, 0.5 SPG
Achievements: NBA Championship, NBA Finals MVP, NBA MVP, All-Star Game MVP, All-NBA First Team, NBA Scoring Champion, All-NBA Defensive Second Team
2013 LeBron James: 26.8 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 7.3 APG, 0.9 BPG, 1.7 SPG
Achievements: NBA Championship, NBA Finals MVP, NBA MVP, All-NBA First Team, All-Defensive First Team
2016 Stephen Curry: 30.1 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 6.7 APG, 0.2 BPG, 2.1 SPG
Achievements: NBA MVP, All-NBA First Team
2020 Giannis Antetokounmpo: 29.5 PPG, 13.6 RPG, 5.6 APG, 1.0 BPG, 1.0 SPG
Achievements: NBA MVP, NBA Defensive Player Of The Year, All-NBA First Team, All-NBA Defensive First Team
But what if when you compare these seasons with each other? Well, that’s what the popular Twitter page ‘NBA Central’ decided to ask fans in one of its recent tweets.
1 Gotta Go pic.twitter.com/gb3hFIIzlV
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 14, 2022
The question was simple as NBA fans had to choose which of these players they would eliminate when we compare all four seasons. Evidently, fans had some exciting answers and reasons behind their picks. Here’s a quick look at some of the best comments by fans to give a general idea of their thoughts on the debate.
2020 Giannis is the worst player on this list. Worst shooter, worst playmaker, worst defender, least dominant, least impact on the game. All the other 3 sit at a table by themselves and giannis sits with his teammates
— Thors (@WhatSeparatesMe) August 14, 2022
Non let’s appreciate all the legends we have in our game
— Bones🦴 (@Boness305) August 14, 2022
Unfortunately it’s Shaq. He’s the biggest liability. And Giannis and Bron can do everything Shaq can
— woosah 😮💨 (@thankyou_aj2x) August 14, 2022
2020 Giannis not even better than 2020 AD
— Michael Fraudan (@JorOverrated) August 14, 2022
For rn giannis but in due time it will be curry
— ⚡️ (@Wh0lewrldslatt) August 14, 2022
Steph. Sorry but easy choice. He is "just" a shooter. He ain't got the athletic dominance. Greatest shooter ever but I would not take "just" a shooter over the other names.
— Kit Wolkenflitzer (@KitWolkenflitzr) August 14, 2022
This is a hard one…
None of the options can duplicate what Steph does.
Lebron can help handle the ball and facilitate.
Giannis can do what Shaq does plus has a little more offensive versatility.
So Shaq gotta go!
— shan0506 (@shan0506) August 14, 2022
https://twitter.com/OwnHim30/status/1558626405877006337
Curry easily. The most fraudulent of these
— Ø⚔️ (@FLOPBIID) August 14, 2022
The one that didn't win a ring or a final MVP
— Spencer K (@SpencerKeele) August 14, 2022
This is the most random “one gotta go” graphic 💀
— 𝕵𝖆𝖗𝖎❄️🎄 (@JariDaRealist) August 14, 2022
Hmmm 3 of the 5 best seasons we have ever seen by a human playing basketball or a very good but not memorable Giannis year?
— will (@will_nba_hater) August 14, 2022
Looking at the comments from fans, most believed that it should be either Giannis or Steph who’s gotta go. To be honest, it was surprising to see Curry’s name here in the first place.
In the 2016 season, Curry dominated the league by using his shooting ability as his best weapon. On the other hand, the other three players mentioned in the post simply used their athletic abilities to achieve success. So it is difficult to compare them with Curry.
Additionally, that version was Curry might be dominant, but he blew a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals while being on a 73-9 team. That’s something that fans will always hold against Steph.
As for Giannis, he was utterly dominant during the season included in the debate, but he also failed to keep that level of performance during the playoffs. At the end of the day, these are probably the biggest reasons why most fans decided to take Curry or Giannis’s name.
