RealGM Greatest Peaks Project (2022)

[LA Bird]

It has been 3 years since the last peaks project so it is time for another one. We will be ranking single season peaks including both regular season and playoffs and each player will be represented on the list with only one season. The scope of this project will be every season from 1947 to 2022 in the NBA/ABA/BAA. For reference, here are the results of the peak project from previous years:

Spoiler:

Highest Peak of All Time (2012)
1. 1991 Michael Jordan
2. 2000 Shaquille O'Neal
3. 1965 Bill Russell
4. 1967 Wilt Chamberlain
5. 1994 Hakeem Olajuwon
6. 1977 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
7. 1986 Larry Bird
8. 1987 Magic Johnson
9. 2003 Tim Duncan
10. 2009 LeBron James
11. 2004 Kevin Garnett
12. 1977 Bill Walton
13. 1976 Julius Erving
14. 1963 Oscar Robertson
15. 2008 Kobe Bryant
16. 1995 David Robinson
17. 2009 Dwyane Wade
18. 2011 Dirk Nowitzki
19. 1990 Patrick Ewing
20. 2005 Steve Nash
21. 1966 Jerry West
22. 2008 Chris Paul
23. 1993 Charles Barkley
24. 1983 Moses Malone
25. 2003 Tracy McGrady
26. 1998 Karl Malone
27. 1995 Scottie Pippen
28. 1996 Penny Hardaway
29. 1961 Elgin Baylor
30. 2011 Dwight Howard
31. 1975 Rick Barry
32. 2012 Kevin Durant
33. 1987 Kevin McHale
34. 1972 Walt Frazier
35. 1973 Dave Cowens
36. 1984 Bernard King
37. 1990 Kevin Johnson

Spoiler:

Greatest Player Peaks of All-Time (2015)
1. Michael Jordan ('91---unanimous)
2. Shaquille O'Neal ('00---unanimous)
3. Lebron James ('13---non-unanimous ('09, '12))
4. Wilt Chamberlain ('67---non-unanimous ('64))
5. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ('77---non-unanimous ('71, '72))
6. Hakeem Olajuwon ('94---non-unanimous ('93))
7. Tim Duncan ('03---non-unanimous ('02))
8. Kevin Garnett ('04---unanimous)
9. Bill Russell ('65---non-unanimous ('62, '64))
10. Magic Johnson ('87---unanimous)
11. Larry Bird ('86---non-unanimous ('87, '88))
12. David Robinson ('95---non-unanimous ('94, '96))
13. Bill Walton ('77---unanimous)
14. Julius Erving ('76---unanimous)
15. Oscar Robertson ('64---non-unanimous ('63))
16. Dwyane Wade ('09---non-unanimous ('06, '10))
17. Stephen Curry ('15---unanimous)
18. Dirk Nowitzki ('11---non-unanimous ('06, '09))
19. Jerry West ('66---non-unanimous ('68, '69))
20. Kevin Durant ('14---unanimous)
21. Patrick Ewing ('90---unanimous)
22. Tracy McGrady ('03---unanimous)
23. Kobe Bryant ('08---non-unanimous ('06, '09))
24. Charles Barkley ('90---non-unanimous ('93))
25. Moses Malone ('83---unanimous)
26. Chris Paul ('08---non-unanimous ('15))
27. Karl Malone ('97---non-unanimous ('92/'95/'98))
28. Steve Nash ('07---non-unanimous ('05))
29. Anthony Davis ('15---unanimous)
30. Dwight Howard ('11---non-unanimous ('09))
31. Alonzo Mourning ('00---unanimous)
32. Walt Frazier ('72---non-unanimous ('70, '71))
33. James Harden ('15---unanimous)
34. Artis Gilmore ('75---unanimous)
35. Elgin Baylor ('61---unanimous)
36. Bob Pettit ('63---non-unanimous ('61))
37. Bob Lanier ('74---unanimous)
38. Kevin McHale ('87---non-unanimous ('86))
39. Willis Reed ('69---non-unanimous ('70))
40. Bob McAdoo ('75---unanimous)

Spoiler:

GOAT peaks (2019)
1) Michael Jordan 1990-91
2) LeBron James 2012-13
3) Wilt Chamberlain 1966-67
4) Shaquille O'Neal 1999-00
5) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1976-77
6) Tim Duncan 2002-03
7) Larry Bird 1985-86
8) Bill Russell 1963-64
9) Hakeem Olajuwon 1993-94
10) Magic Johnson 1986-87
11) Kevin Garnett 2003-04
12) Julius Erving 1975-76
13) Bill Walton 1976-77
14) Oscar Robertson 1963-64
15) Stephen Curry 2015-16
16) Dwyane Wade 2008-09
17) Jerry West 1965-66
18) David Robinson 1994-95
19) Dirk Nowitzki 2010-11
20) Kobe Bryant 2007-08
21) Tracy McGrady 2002-03
22) Moses Malone 1982-83
23) Patrick Ewing 1989-90
24) Kevin Durant 2013-14
25) Russell Westbrook 2016-17
26) Charles Barkley 1992-93
27) Kawhi Leonard 2018-19
28) Chris Paul 2007-08
29) George Mikan 1948-49
30) Steve Nash 2004-05
31) Giannis Antetokounmpo 2018-19
32) Karl Malone 1996-97
33) Dwight Howard 2010-11
34) Artis Gilmore 1974-75
35) James Harden 2018-19
36) Willis Reed 1968-69
37) Rick Barry 1974-75
38) Bob McAdoo 1974-75
39) Bob Pettit 1958-59
40) Walt Frazier 1972-73

The purpose of this thread is to first gauge if there is sufficient interest for this project to go ahead. Posters who participated in the peaks projects before have been automatically included in the quote list at the end of this post but anyone not on the list is also welcome to sign up and join in the project. If we don't get 10~20 people, the project will be postponed to another year. Otherwise, my current plan is for the project to start a few days after the Finals and to end before the start of the 2022-23 season in mid October. The voting window will be 72 hours for the first 20 rounds and it will be reduced to 48 hours from round 21 onwards as the amount of discussion usually declines at that point.

In terms of the voting system, past peaks project have always had problems with some players potentially having multiple peaks. Ideally, there should be no advantage or disadvantage to players who had many peak season candidates compared to others with a clear unanimous peak. The best solution in my opinion is to vote for individual player seasons and choose the winner through head to head comparisons via the Condorcet method. To show how this works, you will write your 3 highest player peaks and at least one line of reasoning for each of them. But in addition, you can also list other peak season candidates from those three players. As an example, this is what a vote could potentially look like:

1. 1991 Jordan: Explanation
2. (1990 Jordan)
3. 2013 LeBron: Explanation
4. (2012 LeBron)
5. (1992 Jordan)
6. (2009 LeBron)
7. 1967 Wilt: Explanation
8. (1964 Wilt)

The reason for also including seasons that you don't consider to be peaks in your vote is so that players with multiple viable peak seasons can be evaluated more accurately when the votes are added up at the end of the round. If a player season is not listed in your vote, I would treat it as you ranking it behind every other season present in your vote. At the end of each round, every season is compared pairwise and the winner is the season that beats every other season head to head. For example, if these are the votes (in descending order of preference) in a round for players A, B, C and their seasons A1, A2, A3, B1, B2, C1:

A1, A2, A3
A1, B1, A2
A1, B1, A2
B1, A1, A2
B1, B2, A1
B2, A1, B1
B2, B1, A1
C1, B1, B2
C1, B2, B1

The winner is the season B1 because a majority of the voters preferred it over each of A1 (5>4), A2 (8>1), B2 (5>3), and C1 (6>2).
I chose the Condorcet method instead of the voting methods used in previous projects because I think it is the most accurate and least susceptible to manipulation. A simple plurality in seasons (2012 project) disadvantages players with multiple peaks while a simple plurality with combined peak seasons (2015 project) doesn't account for how differently individual seasons by the same player can be ranked. The Borda count method (2019 project) gives an artificial advantage to players with multiple peak level seasons and can easily be gamed to inflate the distant between your preferred candidate and their closest rival. The Condorcet method requires more work when adding up the votes but it should give the best results.

In the event of a tie at the end of the voting period, there will be an additional 24 hour runoff between the top seasons in contention. If the tie is between multiple seasons from the same player, the runoff will run concurrently with the next round because the winning player has already been determined. If there is still a tie at the end of the 24 hour runoff, my idea is to discard the last vote by timestamp until there is no tie. This might seem too basic and arbitrary of a tiebreak rule but
1. It keeps the project moving. Later rounds with already low participation often die when we wait indefinitely for tiebreak votes.
2. It guarantees a winner without adding too many complicated tiebreaking mechanisms (see top 100 project).
3. It incentivizes people to get their votes in as early as possible so their votes aren't the last one and discarded.
4. If the vote was really close, the runner up will likely win the next round anyway so I don't think a one spot difference is that big of a deal in the overall scheme of things.

That's everything I have for the rules. If there is anything people don't like or want to add, I am always open to new ideas.
In any case, I am looking forward to start round #1 sometime between June 16-22.

Note: If you find yourself in the list of names below and don't wish to receive further notifications about this project, simply withdraw and your name will be removed.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

[Dr Positivity]

Ok

[Dutchball97]

I joined a year after the last peaks project so I'm looking forward to give my take on the list. Count me in.

[ardee]

Yeah I'm in. Interested to see where Curry, Giannis and Jokic land.

[70sFan]

I am in, will try to work out my updated peaks list within next few days.

[penbeast0]

Like the last peaks project, I will read with interest, comment occasionally, but probably not vote. I don't think about most players in terms of single season peaks except maybe Bill Walton or Connie Hawkins.

[SideshowBob]

Will follow but cannot participate in discussion or voting.

[Max123]

What kind of a commitment is required for one to join the project?

[DQuinn1575]

I'm in.
To be clear, I vote for 3 players. And in your example, I should place a vote for any LeBron or Jordan season I think is better than Wilt's 1967 season; if I feel Jordan's 1989 season was superior to WIlt's 1967 I should vote for that.

So should I really list all seasons of these 3 I think are better than the 4th guy? - say it's Jabbar 1977.
Should I list all seasons of MJ, LeBron, and WIlt I have down as better than 1977 Jabbar?

As an example, this is what a vote could potentially look like:

1. 1991 Jordan: Explanation
2. (1990 Jordan)
3. 2013 LeBron: Explanation
4. (2012 LeBron)
5. (1992 Jordan)
6. (2009 LeBron)
7. 1967 Wilt: Explanation
8. (1964 Wilt)

[Colbinii]

Looks fun. I'm in.

[falcolombardi]

looks fun, can i participate?

[capfan33]

I'd like to participate even though we'll see how hard it is in terms of time commitment.

[Clyde Frazier]

Not sure if I'll have enough time this go around but I'll mull it over. Happy to see the project back tho!

[The-Power]

Unfortunately, I won't be able to commit.

[Gregoire]

I'm in.

[LA Bird]

What kind of a commitment is required for one to join the project?

There is no time commitment for this project. You are welcome to join in the discussion in any round without ever voting at all.

looks fun, can i participate?

Yes

To be clear, I vote for 3 players. And in your example, I should place a vote for any LeBron or Jordan season I think is better than Wilt's 1967 season; if I feel Jordan's 1989 season was superior to WIlt's 1967 I should vote for that.

So should I really list all seasons of these 3 I think are better than the 4th guy? - say it's Jabbar 1977.
Should I list all seasons of MJ, LeBron, and WIlt I have down as better than 1977 Jabbar?

You can list as many or as few extra seasons as you want. Obviously, the more you rank, the less likely it is for me to misinterpret your preferences when I am adding up the votes. But at the same time, I don't want voters to think that they have to rank like 15 seasons in every vote because that is a lot more work for both them and for me. If you are very confident one of your players has a unanimous peak (eg. 2000 Shaq), you can even just ignore all his other seasons in your vote. Essentially, the multi season approach is only there to cover your bases in case the season you pick as the peak for a player is not the same as everyone else.

[Doctor MJ]

Okay, I'm in.

[DraymondGold]

If a relatively new member is able to join, I'd love to participate!

[Lou Fan]

I'll pop in and out but probably won't be a constant contributor.

[TheGOATRises007]

I'll try and participate, but I can't promise anything.

I'll definitely keep an eye on the project.