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Since 2010, the PC board has held a vote at the end of each season for the Player of the Year.

With Jokic’s latest win, we have 15 of these contemporaneous board POYs. And my infatuation for rankings has me wondering how people would rank them.

Years (Winner - Share))
'23-24 (Nikola Jokic - 0.765)
'22-23 (Nikola Jokic - 1.000)
'21-22 (Nikola Jokic - 0.944)
'20-21 (Giannis Antetokounmpo - 0.887)
'19-20 (LeBron James - 0.979)
'18-19 (Kawhi Leonard - 0.736)
'17-18 (LeBron James - 0.870)
'16-17 (LeBron James - 0.864)
'15-16 (LeBron James - 0.964)
'14-15 (Steph Curry - 0.983)
'13-14 (LeBron James - 0.960)
'12-13 (LeBron James - 1.000)
'11-12 (LeBron James - 1.000)
'10-11 (Dirk Nowitzki - 0.939)
'09-10 (LeBron James - 0.816)

Note that this is about accomplishment within the season, so not meant to be treated like “well this guy was a better basketball player than this guy”. Consider nothing but what was accomplished in each season. I realize this might make for an awkward ranking process because there’s only so much one can accomplish within a season, so consider it an experiment I guess

13 Lebron
12 Lebron
10 Lebron
14 Lebron
16 Lebron
17 Lebron
18 Lebron
23 Jokic
20 Lebron
22 Jokic
15 Steph
24 Jokic
21 Giannis
19 Kawhi
11 Dirk

Well, most people do not totally disregard player quality in their ballots. But alright, with that framework in mind:

15. 2022 Nikola Jokic
MVP season but uncompetitive first round exit. There is an angle where this could be #14, but in accomplishment it is bottom of the pack.

14. 2024 Nikola Jokic
MVP season but was three degrees removed from a title (lost to team which lost to team which lost to champion). Not even a 1-seed.

13. 2010 Lebron James
MVP season with most wins in the league, but was a second-round exit to the runner-up.

12. 2017 Lebron James
Dominant Finals run, but not top three in MVP voting and did not even bother to secure a 1-seed.

11. 2018 Lebron James
Carried a bad team to the Finals, but was only second-place in MVP voting and was the conference 4-seed.

10. 2014 Lebron James
Another Finals run and MVP runner-up. There is a case for this to be below 2018 based on postseason adversity, but here I went with the overall more impressive season.

9. 2019 Kawhi Leonard
Not in serious MVP discussions, but won Finals MVP and (narrowly) outplayed the MVP winner head-to-head as a 2-seed.

8. 2015 Steph Curry
Won MVP and a title on the league’s winningest team, but had a comically favourable path, did not look like the best player on the court in the Finals, and accordingly did not secure Finals MVP.

7. 2021 Giannis Antetokounmpo
Rushed back from injury to earn Finals MVP with a 50-point clinching game. Can see moving this down — path was not overly difficult, team was only a 3-seed, he was only fourth in MVP voting — but he ultimately overcame real adversity to win the title in astounding fashion.

6. 2011 Dirk Nowitzki
Not a serious MVP contender (wrongly, but also in large part because of missing more time than the other contenders), but upset multiple strong teams and thoroughly outplayed the league’s two general consensus best players to win Finals MVP.

5. 2023 Nikola Jokic
Finals MVP and 1-seed with a comfortable title run, but no MVP and a relatively easy path.

4. 2020 Lebron James
Finals MVP and 1-seed with a comfortable title run, but no MVP and a relatively easy path. Takes #4 because of a closer MVP campaign.

3. 2016 Lebron James
Finals MVP and 1-seed with a title run upsetting a 73-win team and thoroughly outplaying the league’s only unanimous MVP.

2. 2012 Lebron James
Finals MVP and a dominant MVP win, but only had the fourth most wins (second in conference). Decent adversity — beat two good teams, one of which was in spite of significant teammate injury — but nothing crazy.

1. 2013 Lebron James
Finals MVP, one (obtuse) vote off a unanimous MVP, most wins in the league, beat a stupendous Finals opponent… By accomplishment clearly top of the pack, which is why people usually default to this as his true peak.

1. 2013 LeBron James
2. 2017 LeBron James
3. 2016 LeBron James
4. 2012 LeBron James
5. 2018 LeBron James
6. 2010 LeBron James
7. 2023 Nikola Jokic
8. 2014 LeBron James
9. 2020 LeBron James
10. 2024 Nikola Jokic
11. 2022 Nikola Jokic
12. 2011 Dirk Nowitzki
13. 2015 Steph Curry
14. 2021 Giannis Antetokounmpo
15. 2019 Kawhi Leonard

LeBron a tier above everyone else, then I believe Jokic is in the middle above the rest.

I am honestly a bit lower on Giannis' peak than others likely are mainly due to durability. He's missed Playoff games in 4 of 6 years, he was very lucky in 2021 that it was a weak opponent and his supporting cast was able to pull through while he was out.

Probably something like this:

1. 2012 LeBron James
2. 2013 LeBron James
3. 2016 LeBron James
4. 2014 LeBron James
5. 2017 LeBron James
6. 2023 Nikola Jokic
7. 2010 LeBron James
8. 2024 Nikola Jokic
9. 2018 LeBron James
10. 2020 LeBron James
11. 2015 Steph Curry
12. 2021 Giannis Antetokounmpo
13. 2022 Nikola Jokic
14. 2011 Dirk Nowitzki
15. 2019 Kawhi Leonard


Edit: just realized I did it for "best player", not "best season". For best season, someone like Dirk would be way higher.