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LeBron James stands with Olympians Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
D. Myles Cullen via Access Archives
With the basketball world obsessed with pitting the careers of LeBron James and Michael Jordan against each other, I’m going the other way. In this article, I’ll list LeBron’s 20 NBA seasons (regular season and playoffs) and evaluate each season’s ranking.
When was LeBron’s worst year? Which season was the most disappointing? When was his prime? Let’s take a look.
LeBron hinted at retirement when the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 Western Conference Finals. His postgame message, cryptic as it was, left fans like me in a strange state of shock and relief. I’m shocked because I just watched him lead another team to the playoffs. Even though he looks tired at times, his talent is still at a superstar level. But I also feel a sense of relief — like a weight being lifted — because as a fan, hearing year after year what LeBron is up to next, or when he’s going to win another ring, I bored.
It’s time for this athlete to really take a break.
As someone who has spent most of his life in the NBA, he should shed unrealistic expectations. He has done enough. But look at every season he’s played in the NBA, and it’s easy to see why he’s been the subject of all these crazy opinions.
LeBron James NBA 20 Year Rankings
When you look at every season in the NBA, 19 of 20 of those seasons were MVP-friendly or even at the Hall of Fame level. To give you a quick rundown of my intentions, here are some tidbits about LeBron’s 20 seasons.
- He averaged 30 points or more in three seasons. (Jordan had eight such seasons, and Kevin Durant has two so far.)
- He averaged 26 or more points in 15 seasons and 25 or more in 19 seasons. (Jordan had only 12 seasons in which he averaged at least 25 points per game.)
- He is one of only seven players in NBA history to lead the league in scoring and assists during his career.
- He is the first and only player to win Finals MVP while playing for three different teams.
- He is a four-time league MVP, four-time Finals MVP, three-time All-Star MVP, 19-time All-NBA selection, six-time All-Defensive selection, and the youngest player to hit 10,000, 20,000, and 30,000 player-point milestones.
LeBron James is the highest-scoring basketball player of all time — both in the regular season and in playoffs. I don’t think there’s any debate about which NBA player has the greatest career of all time.
The LeBron vs. Jordan GOAT debate will continue, but in the minds of many, LeBron’s career is second to none. No one can come close.
But as for his greatest single seasons, let’s find out below.
What is the all-time ranking of LeBron’s years with the Lakers?
Wikimedia Commons
20. 2018-19
- Team: Los Angeles Lakers
- Games played: 55
- Regular season stats: 27.4 PTS, 8.5 REB and 8.3 AST
- Notable Awards: All-Star and All-NBA Third Team
- Regular season record: 37 wins and 45 losses
- Playoffs: Did not make the playoffs
While LeBron’s first season with the Lakers was an overall statistically great year for any player, it was also the first time he looked human. After playing at a high level for 15 seasons, James finally suffered a major injury. With him missing a third of the season, the Lakers underperformed and missed the playoffs. Since 2006, all of LeBron’s teams have qualified for the playoffs.
It’s tempting to label LeBron’s rookie year as his least-than-ideal just because of the numbers, but rookie stats are in a category of their own. The reason for LeBron’s worst 2018-19 season was a combination of at least three things. As unfair as it sounds, LeBron’s 27-8-8 stat line is just average by his own standards. The fact that he missed so much playing time (by his own standards) and missed the playoffs made this season his worst yet. This may be his worst season ever.
19. 2003-04
- Team: Cleveland Cavaliers
- Games played: 79
- Regular season stats: 20.9 PTS, 5.5 REB and 5.9 AST
- Notable Awards: Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie First Team
- Regular season record: 35 wins and 47 losses
- Playoffs: Did not make the playoffs
LeBron had one of the best rookie years ever, but like most NBA rookies, he was markedly ineffective. With a coach who has handed over the keys to an 18-year-old, James has an opportunity advantage. He’s averaging more than 39 minutes per game, far more than most rookies expect. He was given free reign. While averaging 21 points, five rebounds and six assists would be impressive for anyone, he shot just 42 percent from the field and 29 percent from three.
Still, the rookie’s shooting inefficiency is to be expected, but he’s still considered to have met or exceeded his expectations. What was so impressive about his rookie season was his confidence as a leader in the NBA as a teenager. That’s why even though LeBron has his worst stats ever, this season will never count as his worst.
18. 2020-21
- Team: Los Angeles Lakers
- Games Played: 45
- Regular season stats: 25.0 PTS, 7.7 REB and 7.8 AST
- Notable Awards: All-Star and All-NBA Second Team
- Regular season record: 42 wins and 30 losses
- Playoffs: Lost in first round to Phoenix Suns
It’s no surprise that LeBron missed 27 games for the second time in his career (second in three years). He’s almost 36 years old and obviously doesn’t have enough time to recover. The game in the NBA rematch zone will end on October 11, 2020, and the 2020-21 season will begin on December 22. Only 72 days of rest during this period, is the shortest offseason ever. Under normal circumstances, the NBA’s annual suspension time is about 130-140 days.
It’s clear that teams with aging rosters (the Lakers are a team full of old players) have faltered for most of the 2020-21 season. LeBron’s teammate Anthony Davis — who notoriously didn’t get back in shape until midseason — missed half the year. Davis didn’t look like an All-Star, and unsurprisingly, he was injured in the first round of the playoffs against the Phoenix Suns. When he went down, so did the Lakers’ chances of defending the NBA title.
That being said, the 36-year-old LeBron has shown that, when healthy, he remains one of the league’s elite. That was confirmed when he was named to the All-NBA Second Team.
Young LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliers
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17. 2004-05
- Team: Cleveland Cavaliers
- Games played: 80
- Regular season stats: 27.2 PTS, 7.4 REB and 7.2 AST
- Notable Awards: All-Star and All-NBA Second Team
- Regular season record: 42 wins and 40 losses
- Playoffs: Did not make the playoffs
If you thought LeBron’s rookie season was amazing, his leap from good to superstar in his second year was just as incredible. As a 20-year-old, LeBron finished the season with 27 wins, 7 draws and 7 losses, his career average. While he did play 42 minutes a night, he’s shooting 47 percent from the field and 35 percent from three, which does show signs of improving efficiency.
Leading a weaker team in his second year, he managed to lift the Cavs above .500 — and they barely made the playoffs. James’ second year was undoubtedly one of the greatest sophomore seasons of all time.
16. 2021-22
- Team: Los Angeles Lakers
- Games played: 56
- Regular season stats: 30.3 PTS, 8.2 REB and 6.2 AST
- Notable Awards: All-Star and All-NBA Third Team
- Regular season record: 33 wins and 49 losses
- Playoffs: Did not make the playoffs
I have to admit, it’s hard to rank LeBron’s 2021-22 season. While it was the worst regular-season record on any of LeBron James’ teams, it wasn’t that bad either. Anthony Davis again missed half the season (no surprise there), so LeBron, 37, had to lug a dysfunctional roster to get a chance to play. They failed at that, and most pointed the finger at Russell Westbrook.
It’s safe to say that the Lakers’ pain during this stretch wasn’t LeBron’s fault, especially since he averaged more than 30 points per game for the third time in his career — his second-highest total. And he’s done it at 37, which is unheard of. He is approaching Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring record step by step, and he is also attacking the scoring champion of the season.
But with no hope of making the playoffs, he ended the season early in order to get more rest. Is the 2021-22 season LeBron’s least necessary?
15. 2007-08
- Team: Cleveland Cavaliers
- Games played: 75
- Regular season stats: 30.0 PTS, 7.9 REB and 7.2 AST
- Notable Awards: All-Star and All-NBA First Team
- Regular season record: 45 wins and 37 losses
- Playoffs: Lost in semifinals to Boston Celtics
Midseason seasons like 2007-08 are also hard to rank. Thirty points, eight rebounds and seven assists aren’t median numbers for any player, but for LeBron, his overall numbers this year are down from when he led the Cavaliers to the Finals last season.
The encounter with the Boston Celtics — which sparked the first rivalry of his career — proved to be incomplete as a player. The Celtics were able to expose his weaknesses. In the first four games of the Cleveland-Boston series, James has scored just 21 points or fewer. Although he scored 45 points in a valiant effort in Game 7, it wasn’t enough. Overall, the 2007-08 season proved that LeBron couldn’t do it all alone — he needed a partner or two to beat the NBA’s elite.
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade during their four-year tenure with the Miami Heat, or “peanut butter and jelly.”
Wikimedia Commons
14. 2010-11
- Team: Miami Heat
- Games played: 79
- Regular season stats: 26.7 PTS, 7.5 REB and 7.0 AST
- Notable Awards: All-Star, All-NBA First Team, Best Defensive First Team
- Regular season record: 58 wins and 24 losses
- Playoffs: Lost to Dallas Mavericks in NBA Finals
When LeBron decided to sign with the Miami Heat over the summer, everyone, including James himself, thought the path to a championship would be easy. But the best basketball player in the world needs to be humble. The Heat are 12-8 through their first 20 games. In wins, they certainly look good, but in defeats, they look like they have a long way to go.
The Heat rallied and won 12 straight, then nine, then eight. They’re starting to look like a championship team. When they met the top-seeded Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference finals, everyone saw their strength. They beat the MVP-led Bulls in just five games, and it looked like they would win it all.
It looks like LeBron doubters are finally going to shut up. But when Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavericks beat the Heat to win the final three games of the Finals, his detractors added fuel to the fire that burned his legacy. To make matters worse, LeBron didn’t appear in the NBA Finals as a superstar. He averaged 17.8 points per game, making him look like Wade’s John Lennon and Bosh’s Paul McCartney’s Ringo Starr.
As promising as this season was, it ended up being a huge disappointment. Understandably, that didn’t make it into his best ten seasons despite being in his prime.
13. 2008-09
- Team: Cleveland Cavaliers
- Games played: 81
- Regular season stats: 28.4 PTS, 7.6 REB and 7.2 AST
- Notable Awards: All-Star, NBA MVP, All-NBA First Team, Best Defensive First Team
- Regular season record: 66 wins and 16 losses
- Playoffs: Eastern Conference finals loss to Orlando Magic
The year when you become the league MVP and lead the team to the best record in the NBA should be your first five seasons, right? Maybe even a top three. Well, not for LeBron, everyone expects him to be the best basketball player every year. Almost cracked the top ten this year…
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