[Project:Primes of the top 10 ever] List the top 12 seasons between LeBron James vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

[falcolombardi]

jordan has basically 10 healthy and full prime seasons,

for him to get a 10-8 lead over lebron or kareem he has zero error margin. his 87 or 98 years for example would have to beat out lebron/kareem 9th best seasons

for example it could come down to 1998 jordan vs 2020 lebron or 1987 jordan vs 1980 kareem

i probably wouldnt give jordan either if it came to it

[LA Bird]

Will be adding my explanations later once again:

1. 2009 LeBron
2. 1977 Kareem
3. 1972 Kareem
4. 2017 LeBron
5. 2016 LeBron
6. 2013 LeBron
7. 2012 LeBron
8. 2010 LeBron
9. 1974 Kareem
10. 1971 Kareem
11. 1976 Kareem
12. 1973 Kareem

Edit: Added explanations

Spoiler:

.

Used to have 72 as Kareem's peak but 77 has moved slightly higher in my newest ranking due to the stronger league quality post merger. Even before he went god-mode in the playoffs, 77 Kareem's regular season scoring was way better than any of his non Magic/Oscar years when looking at TS Add per 36:

1. 1971 (+4.96)
2. 1972 (+4.63)
3. 1977 (+4.12)
4. 1980 (+3.91)
5. 1973 (+3.60)
6. 1983 (+3.43)
7. 1981 (+3.36)
8. 1985 (+3.22)
9. 1978 (+3.20)
Career average (+2.96)
10. 1979 (+2.91)
11. 1982 (+2.79)
12. 1976 (+2.69)
13. 1986 (+2.61)
14. 1984 (+2.54)
15. 1974 (+2.38)

I have 74 as Kareem's third best season because of the GOAT level playoffs performance but it goes behind many of LeBron's top seasons because of the relatively weak RS. I am not very high on 71 Kareem despite the strong numbers in both RS and PO because I think his stats benefited from quite a bit from playing with prime Oscar (who fell off the next year), the postseason competition was far too easy, and his defense was better in 72~74. 80 Kareem unfortunately failed to make the cut but it would usually be a top 5 season for anyone beside LeBron/Jordan. I think there is a clear dropoff in LeBron seasons after his top 6 and that's where many of Kareem's prime seasons fall in.

[Odinn21]

LeBron James vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar results;

Code: Select all

1.   84 points / 0.875 share / '77 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
2.   81 points / 0.844 share / '09 LeBron James
3.   77 points / 0.802 share / '12 LeBron James
4.   70 points / 0.729 share / '13 LeBron James
5.   63 points / 0.656 share / '74 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
6.   53 points / 0.552 share / '71 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
7.   48 points / 0.500 share / '72 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
8.   42 points / 0.438 share / '16 LeBron James
9.   30 points / 0.313 share / '10 LeBron James
10.  25 points / 0.260 share / '17 LeBron James
11.  22 points / 0.229 share / '76 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
12.  16 points / 0.167 share / '14 LeBron James
                               
13.   5 points / 0.052 share / '80 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
14.   5 points / 0.052 share / '73 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
15.   1 points / 0.010 share / '20 LeBron James
16.   1 points / 0.010 share / '18 LeBron James
17.   1 points / 0.010 share / '78 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Points within top 12 seasons voted;
LeBron James 43 - 35 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Points totals in top 12 seasons voted;
LeBron James 341 - 270 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Winner: LeBron James

Results on Google Sheets

[sansterre]

LeBron James vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar results;

Code: Select all

1.   65 points / 0.903 share / '77 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
2.   64 points / 0.889 share / '12 LeBron James
3.   60 points / 0.833 share / '09 LeBron James
4.   53 points / 0.736 share / '74 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
5.   53 points / 0.736 share / '13 LeBron James
6.   38 points / 0.528 share / '71 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
7.   32 points / 0.444 share / '16 LeBron James
8.   27 points / 0.375 share / '72 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
9.   20 points / 0.278 share / '76 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
10.  20 points / 0.278 share / '10 LeBron James
11.  16 points / 0.222 share / '17 LeBron James
12.  13 points / 0.181 share / '14 LeBron James
                               
13.   5 points / 0.069 share / '80 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
14.   1 points / 0.014 share / '20 LeBron James
15.   1 points / 0.014 share / '18 LeBron James

Points within top 12 seasons voted;
LeBron James 43 - 37 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Points totals in top 12 seasons voted;
LeBron James 258 - 203 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Winner: LeBron James

Results on Google Sheets

Wow. Narrow margin of victory there.

[Odinn21]

Wow. Narrow margin of victory there.

I was yet to include LA Bird's vote as I saw his after posting the results. His vote made the gap a bit wider but yeah, it was a close race.

[DQuinn1575]

Wow. Narrow margin of victory there.

I was yet to include LA Bird's vote as I saw his after posting the results. His vote made the gap a bit wider but yeah, it was a close race.

Sorry i thought i had until today to vote.

[Odinn21]

Wow. Narrow margin of victory there.

I was yet to include LA Bird's vote as I saw his after posting the results. His vote made the gap a bit wider but yeah, it was a close race.

Sorry i thought i had until today to vote.

You've been active pretty regularly. There's no particular rush. We have deadlines to keep the project going without having wonky timetables. I'll count your vote if you have it at the ready with your explanations. Cheers.

[DQuinn1575]

I was yet to include LA Bird's vote as I saw his after posting the results. His vote made the gap a bit wider but yeah, it was a close race.

Sorry i thought i had until today to vote.

You've been active pretty regularly. There's no particular rush. We have deadlines to keep the project going without having wonky timetables. I'll count your vote if you have it at the ready with your explanations. Cheers.

Thanks, sorry for being high maintenance; at least I got 12 the first time:

I value the regular season higher than most, as 82 regular season games tell me more about how good a player is then maybe 10 playoff
games. As a result, I get things like 73 Jabbar in the Top 12, while others don't.

I also value the True Shooting above average shown on B-Ref. With two incredible seasons plus a top defense, 71 and 72 Kareem
are seasons I put above the 2 best seasons I picked for Lebron, 2013 and 2009.
I have 77 KJ and 12 LBJ basically even, I gave it to Kareem with the defensive impact of a center being the tiebreaker.
74 Kareem beat out 2010 LeBron and 73 Kareem due to the postseason; flip the post season and 73 Kareem would probably be as good
as the top 2.

These are really great season after great season. I have 3 LeBron seasons that ranked against Duncan that missed the cut here;
I think Kareem's 76 and 8- are similar.



1 1971 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
2 1972 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
3 2013 LeBron James
4 2009 LeBron James
5 1977 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
6 2012 LeBron James
7 1974 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
8 2010 LeBron James
9 1973 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
10 2014 LeBron James
11 2016 LeBron James
12 1978 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

[Odinn21]

...

Updated the results with your vote.

By the way, I added a simple comparison matrix to the Google Sheets document to see how they compare to each other on a 100 scale.