To me, this is LeBron’s most impactful single season of his career, end to end. The cavs won 66 games, and LeBron’s on court +15 net rating was the highest of his career, which includes seasons with Wade + Bosh, and Kyrie + Love. The Cavs had some strong role players like Varejao, Ben Wallace, Delonte, but no real top 20 type players. LeBron’s on-off that year was also a career high +21

For some context on how high a +15 net rating is, here’s the some superstar seasons since 1997 who have crossed: +15 net (only started being recorded since 1997):

2005 Duncan, +17. Notable teammates include Manu, Tony Parker, Robert Horry
2015-2017 Steph, +17, +18, +17. Notable teammates include Draymond, KD, Klay, Iguodala
²⁰²⁵⁄₂₀₂₆ Shai, +17, +18.3. Notable teammates include Chet, J-dub then role players like I-hart, Caruso, Cason Wallace
2020 Giannis, +16. Notable teammates include Middleton, Lopez, and role players like George Hill, Bledsoe, DDV
1998 Shaq, +16. Notable teammates include Eddie Jones, Nick Van Excel, Kobe Bryant, Robert Horry
2008 KG: +16.5. Notable teammates include Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rondo, Tony Allen.

Here are some players who have never hit the +15 mark in a regular season:

Jokic, Kobe, Dirk, Harden, CP3, Nash, Tatum

To go deeper into how much impact LeBron had on those Cavs, RAPM is a well known statistical approach that attempts to go beyond on just court and on/off net rating by adjusting for what teammates you play with, and the strength of lineups you faced. LeBron’s 3-year 2009-2011 stretch is the 2nd highest stretch since 1997. His 5-year 2007-2011 stretch is the highest since 1997. https://www.nbarapm.com/player/LeBron_James

In the playoffs across 3 series, LeBron then averaged an absolutely mind boggling 47.5 pts/100 on +10 efficiency adjusting for opponent defense, which is the highest playoff scoring rate of all time within a minimum of 3 series played. This included a 38, 8, 8 series against the number 1 defense Orlando Magic, where the Cavs posted a monstrous +10 offense when LeBron was on court, but also got cooked by a Magic team somehow shooting 41% from 3 and Dwight cooking Varejao/Ilgauskas

BlackMilk23 | BOS

195 | 6 hours ago

Yes this is the season I point to when people question why he left. This was at the peak of ring culture and people were really criticizing LeBron for not winning with Mo Williams.

moby323 | 76ers

52 | 5 hours ago

I feel like it coincided with the first peak of the early “Hot Take” Skip Bayless, Stephen A. Smith era of sports coverage.

The ring culture, or “all-or-nothing” culture I think comes from those fake heated “debates” where everything was black or white, every player a superstar or a bum, every coach either a new hope or yesterday’s garbage etc

Every topic had to have two polar opposite viewpoints for the schtick to work and so everything is all or nothing.

OverallGeneral7129 | Cavaliers

24 | 4 hours ago

LeBron really had Skip Bayless acting like J Jonah Jameson early in his career

TowerOfPowerWow

3 | 4 hours ago

I dont like Lebron but hes the 2nd best to ever do it. Skip Bayless should if been banned from TV for his horseshit.

Lmao1903 | NBA

29 | 5 hours ago

And he was absolutely right. If he stayed on that team with bums and lets say won 2 rings, ain’t no way people are putting him as the GOAT or top 2-3. The ring culture is the most braindead discussion in the NBA, feel like people lack the ability to have complex thoughts other than “well that guy won and that other guy didn’t”. It’s like are we serious, why are people this stupid that they can’t consider that maybe its a team sport and if you have a good team, you are probably going to win. I don’t think Lebron was exactly that much better in his Miami, Cavs return and Lakers years where he won, his team was better and he didn’t play against the greatest team of all time (I mean the KD one not the one he beat).

Like Curry is one of my favorite players of all time, the guy you watch over anyone, but I can’t help but think if you switch Harden with him and even change it up a bit (add a ring to Curry and get one from Harden), suddenly millions of people would have been like “well Harden actually won 3 and Curry won 1, Curry can’t play defense he is also small as fck, so is he even better than Harden”, its a stupid take but that would have happened.

Healingvizion

9 | 3 hours ago

That was always the argument I made for the warriors vs cavs years, when everyone was saying Kevin durant was better than Lebron in those years. I could never see it, Kd’s supporting cast with the warriors were way better overall than Lebron’s. If you swapped Kd to the Cavs and Lebron to the Warriors, it wouldn’t even be an argument.

Akipella | Warriors

2 | 2 hours ago

KD was still in dicussions about if he was even better/more valuable than his own teammate (which imo he wasn’t, at least in that second metric). He shouldn’t have even been in “convos” with Lebron in the first place lmao.

The funny part is people also use the same for Steph with him winning ³⁄₄ Finals vs. Lebron, but 2 of those were with KD.

That should tell you how silly it is. People are boosting both of them as potentially being better than Lebron despite them playing with each other when they went back to back against him.

Lmao1903 | NBA

1 | an hour ago

I don’t know how anyone with functioning eyeballs thought KD was better than Bron. He might have had better regular season years in terms of stats, but I never thought he was on that level. Like also with Curry, his MVP season is one of the best ever, but in terms of the level of players they were, I don’t know who puts him above Lebron

Heliath

0 | 3 hours ago

And he was absolutely right. If he stayed on that team with bums and lets say won 2 rings, ain’t no way people are putting him as the GOAT or top 2-3. The ring culture is the most braindead discussion in the NBA

If you say that Im guessing that you have Wilt Chamberlain as easily top2 or top 3 in your GOAT list.

Lmao1903 | NBA

2 | an hour ago

I don’t go around making lists about players I didn’t watch, the guy finished his career when my dad was like 7. But I am also not saying Harden was better than Curry for example, just saying that’s how the discussion would have been like, rather than should have been like

Heliath

8 | 3 hours ago

Just to put some context, the criticisim at the time was to where he chose to go. ²⁰⁰⁹⁄₁₀ was Lebron’s last season in Cleveland in his first stint there and he was the player with the highest PER in the league. The other 3 players in the top 4 in efficiency rating that season were Wade (2nd), Durant (3rd) and Chris Bosh (4th).

It was kinda the same criticism Durant got when he left OKC to GSW.

Also Cleveland in 2010 had the best record in the NBA with 61 wins and lost in the semifinals while being the favourites vs Boston that had like 50 wins with Lebron kinda underperforming in the series. Cleveland was 2-1 up and they ended up losing the last 3 games in a row (2-4) with Lebron shooting 39%, 21% and 38% from the field and averaging over 6 TO in those 3 last games.

I understand Lebron because for him it was, “if I dont have a good game we are guaranteed to lose so I need more help” but the criticisim was “you had a good enough team to be the best record in the NBA, you lost while being the favourite and you didnt perform well enough in that series … and you want to leave to play with 2 top 10 players in the league that season”.

twoyrsaway

109 | 6 hours ago

Yeah 09 LeBron is like a top 1 to 5 peak ever

Different-Mountain58 | Trail Blazers

91 | 5 hours ago

And then somehow LeBron peaked two more times as different versions of the same player

moby323 | 76ers

30 | 5 hours ago

I’ve watched his whole career and I’m not saying it was his best season or the peak of his winning or whatever but as far as the moment when I felt he was playing his best basketball the absolute highest level was when he got back to the Cavs.

I think his physical skills maybe peaked a couple years before but his IQ and all the different aspects he kept adding to his game, the peak of that whole combination is the couple of seasons I’m talking about.

Different-Mountain58 | Trail Blazers

48 | 5 hours ago

Yup. 2009 he was like some ungodly hybrid of Jordan and Magic, then in 2012 he became Jason Kidd and Shawn Marion in Karl Malone’s body. And then finally in 2016 he became something I can’t even really compare to anything else.

moby323 | 76ers

18 | 5 hours ago

That’s such an incredibly accurate description lol

Zestyclose-Draft-724 | Lakers

15 | 5 hours ago

Then in 2018 he elevated his game even more to even further heights.

Miyagisans

6 | 2 hours ago

That 2018 version in particular, was crazy. If they needed scoring, he tied Jordan for most 40pt games in a playoff run, outscored Indiana and Boston by himself in a couple first qtrs, and dropped 51 against warriors. If they needed playmaking, he could pick you apart, get teammates shots in their spots, had several double digit assist games. He could decide when they needed to speed up the pace, or slow it down. Was elite in the post, in p/r, his jumper was on, and he still had enough athletic ability to go to the rim, or play 48 mins games. His ability to provide anything the team needed was unreal, I don’t think any other version of him could have taken that Cavs team to the finals. The best player I’ve ever seen.

skopij | Lakers

1 | an hour ago

I don’t think any other version of him could have taken that Cavs team to the finals.

Honestly, I don’t think there is any other player that has ever played in the NBA that could take that Cavaliers team to the NBA finals. I think Jeff Van Gundy said it in the Game 7 against the Celtics that year - it is the biggest accomplishment of his career. I know ring culture would disagree, but… it was just magnificent.

yoloqueuesf | NYK

3 | 3 hours ago

Yeah i’ve watched Lebron his whole career, didn’t like the Miami stint but my goodness after he went back to the cavs he really looked 2 levels above anyone else at any given time. He’d be able to do just about anything on court, walk to 25 points a night and do 40 if he really wanted to.

2018 was the year i realized he was the greatest player i’ve ever seen live.

twoyrsaway

7 | 5 hours ago

I think its specifically 16. I know people love 18, and people say 17 is underrated, and obviously theres the 15 finals but like the 2 way play from 16 Bron was something special

mambamentality29

25 | 5 hours ago

Honestly it’s the best peak ever. I wouldn’t take any player in nba history over this version of LeBron

Aggressive_Bed6012

33 | 5 hours ago

People will say ‘Miami’ or ‘2018 Bron’ because they’re more offensively versatile/rings outcomes/aura, but overlook just how much higher this version of LeBron’s motor was on both ends, and sheer desire and willingness to drive to the rim no matter how shit the spacing, and just get fouled and beat up over and over.

mambamentality29

13 | 5 hours ago

Yep. Insanely twitchy speed while playing elite offense and defense while also jumping out of the gym and being a brute force driving in to the hoop, you just can’t get better than this

Professor_seX

3 | 5 hours ago

Lebron himself said 2018. Don’t think you can say he was overlooking how much higher his 09 version was.

Akipella | Warriors

1 | 5 hours ago

Exactly. This is why I believe it’s 2018.

Unhappy_Bet_8685 | Raptors

8 | 5 hours ago

As a raptors fan we were accustomed to getting absolutely smacked in the playoffs by LeBron & the Cavs, but that 2018 LeBronto game 2 was different. His fadeaway looked unguardable and he just dismantled our team all series. game 3 was also a pretty low point before we did some stuff in the offseason.

Aggressive_Bed6012

1 | 5 hours ago

LeBron also said he felt incredibly dialed in defensively in 2018 too (he explicitly mentioned both ends in that clip).

Both Lebron fans and metrics would tell you he was significantly less impactful defensively than 2016, Miami, or especially 09/10

I think there’s a truth to his statement because overall there was nothing he ‘couldn’t do’ at an above average level, and I don’t think he’s lying about how that felt. But it doesn’t mean that LeBron has done some super computer calculation in his head that pits a more ‘pointy’ version of him strengths/weaknesses wise against this more versatile version and graded them out in total mathematical impact

DVRCWHY

1 | 5 hours ago

What?

Professor_seX

2 | 5 hours ago

“I felt like I could do no wrong out there on the basketball floor,” James said about his 2017-18 season in the latest episode of Mind the Game podcast. “Offensively and defensively, I felt no flaws in my game. I felt like every time I stepped out on the floor, I could do everything I wanted to do—score on all three levels and defensively guard all three levels.

moby323 | 76ers

3 | 5 hours ago

I think there were still a couple of key things Lebron added to his game after this version of LeBron, which may not jump out in highlight reels or whatever, that would make me pick that later version of LeBron if like there were a game and my life depended on it.

burohm1919 | Supersonics

-2 | 5 hours ago

nah he couldnt survive in tough 90s era.

Akipella | Warriors

1 | 5 hours ago

I hate to be “that commenter,” but I still take 2013 and 2018 Lebron over this version. I just do.

mambamentality29

12 | 5 hours ago

Honestly it’s LeBron so it’s not even worth getting mad at that take lol 😂

Akipella | Warriors

4 | 5 hours ago

Lol yeah. I mean either way you can’t go wrong with any of the 3.

Another reason 2018 has me convinced is because Lebron himself said he thinks that was his best form ever. “I felt like I could do everything I wanted to on the court.”

Top-boy-og

7 | 5 hours ago

I’m gonna throw 2020 Bron in there too

twoyrsaway

-1 | 5 hours ago

Boooo

moby323 | 76ers

2 | 5 hours ago

I agree, he added stuff to his game after this and continued to grow and become even more well rounded and smart.

Heliath

0 | 3 hours ago

²⁰⁰⁸⁄₀₉ Lebron is the 17th best season in NBA history in terms of WinShares with 20.25. Jordan and Kareem had 3 better seasons each in terms of WS (including a 25+ for Kareem which is insane) and Wilt Chamberlain had 6 seasons better than that ‘09 season from Lebron. Most of them in teams having fewer wins than Cleveland in 2009 (66).

That season Lebron was absolutely insane, but history in the NBA is quite long already and there had been players with higher peaks in their eras and even today if Jokic manages to keep his level until the end of the RS we would have one of the highest peaks in NBA history right now.

mambamentality29

0 | 3 hours ago

Yeah that just shows me how stupid that stat is. And insinuating that Jokic could somehow peak higher than LeBron is laughable when you realize that LeBron was Elite at both ends and Jokic is literally a negative on defense

Heliath

3 | 2 hours ago

And insinuating that Jokic could somehow peak higher than LeBron is laughable

Why? Lebrons TS in 09 was 59%, Jokic is at 71% in ²⁰²⁵⁄₂₆, shooting 60/43/84. He is putting monster numbers with a ridiculous efficiency.

LeBron was Elite at both ends and Jokic is literally a negative on defense

Sure Lebron was much better on defense but Jokic is way better on offense right now than any season of Lebron.

Lebron highest Offensive rating per 100 possesions was 125 in 2012 with Miami. Jokic has already had 4 seasons above 130 and currently he is at 141 this season.

In terms of skill, Jokic is the best offensive player that has ever played the game (which is normal because modern players have more skill than older generations, its just how evolution works). So yeah, he could peak higher than Lebron and if he keeps this level this season … he will.

ShitSide | Warriors

1 | 5 hours ago

It’s crazy to look back and see how different of an era of basketball that was as well; I guess we’re all getting old… Probably the most athletic player of all time at that peak, truly special stuff

NoMoreMountains

39 | 5 hours ago

Lebron creating for wide open shots and teammates missing the, is how I remember a Lebron Cavs.

Old_Supermarket_7575

-18 | 5 hours ago

That’s currently the Thunder

3s2ng | Lakers

3 | 2 hours ago

Are you telling me Thunder should be scoring more than 200 points if they are making their shots?

Then the league is fucked.

WhoUCuh

35 | 5 hours ago

Bro looking back on it Cleveland really wasted young LeBron career.

Those Cavs team always had some poor pieces around LeBron.

Mo Williams is so trash that nobody even discusses his name on the board. Does anyone even know if Mo Williams is still alive?

Don’t get me started with Larry Hughes.

Cleveland could have done much better finding LeBron a legit running mate.

eternali17 | Clippers

20 | 5 hours ago

And somehow people still give him shit for leaving. The Decision was silly and annoying but the decision was not.

Emergency-Machine-55

17 | 5 hours ago

Boozer did screw over the Cavs by verbally promising to re-sign and then leaving for the Jazz.

howdthatturnout

3 | 5 hours ago

It was a defense heavy era. Pistons made like 7 CF in a row and 2 finals and won a chip. The 2009 and 2010 Cavs were one of the best defenses in the league and each of those seasons shot one of the highest 3 percentages in the league. People act like the rosters made no sense or something because they didn’t have flashy names or a ton of other shot creators. But the Pistons didn’t even have one guy like Lebron creating on offense and were quite successful.

The 2009 Cavs were heavy favorites in both series they lost. I’m not putting it on Lebron for 2009 as it was more so a bad matchup with the Magic, and he went off. But 2010 the Cavs were up 2-1 in the series with game 3 being a massive blowout win. Game 4 is the series if the Cavs win. Lebron comes out and has less points, rebounds, and assists than Rondo. And Lebron had 7 turnovers. He shot ⁷⁄₁₈ from field including 0/5 from 3. They only lost by 10. If Lebron plays better that game they win it and likely the series.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/201005090BOS.html

iCE_P0W3R | Thunder

37 | 5 hours ago

If we just ignore rings and playoff success when talking about greatest peaks ever, this is, bare minimum, top 3. A high BPM is 8.0, an all-time great BPM is 10. MJ’s best playoff BPM is 14.6, in 1991. 2009 LeBron had an absurd BPM of 17.5. He obliterates every “advanced” statistic during that run. His WS/48 was .399.

Now, I don’t like BPM and Ws/48 too much, but it’s no doubt insane that his performance straight up breaks the scale for those metrics.

vongoladecimo_ | Lakers

4 | 4 hours ago

All the more that I would love to see that 09 Lebron with present day spacing and offensive schemes. Just to see how he could impact the game that’s more inclined to his strengths as a player and athlete.

DarkGalaxy23

1 | an hour ago

He also has the highest LEBRON metric tracked from 2009 to present at 8.84. For context, SGA and Jokic are having some of the best seasons ever, and their current LEBRON ratings are 8.08 and 7.54.

White-Gravity | Raptors

16 | 5 hours ago

66 wins with that team is outrageous

Far_Outcome_6540 | Knicks

11 | 4 hours ago

BPM as we know with Jokic favors big man obv. Lebron as a forward in the playoffs had a 17.5 BPM. Like holy shit

Far_Outcome_6540 | Knicks

6 | 4 hours ago

This is the best season of the century imo. It’s insane that he has one of the best regular szns ever and than is like even better in the PS.

Akipella | Warriors

4 | 5 hours ago

Yeah 2009 Lebron was insane.

Also, to your bullet point with 2015-2017 Steph, it might be better to note KD was only there for the last year of that 3 year span, which wasn’t his peak + rating, it only was equal to 2015 and -1 lower than 2016. IE:

KD (2017 only)

johantb | Cavaliers

5 | 3 hours ago

Is your day job defending Steph’s honor online? I see you in every thread making it about Steph even when it’s not even about him. He doesn’t even know you exist and never will, you don’t have to do this

Akipella | Warriors

0 | 2 hours ago

How is it now about him? Read my first sentence even? Calm the heck down dude.

Besides, I bet you surely never responded to anything about Lebron in 2015-2018 when he was taking you guys to the Finals every year but he still got hate for whatever. Like, do you see my flair?

I’m allowed to be biased, you know? It’s not like I hide it. You think it doesn’t matter KD is listed there when he wasn’t even there for ²⁄₃ of those years? He was at worst a top 3 player in the league those years, whether or not he played with Steph in 2015 and 2016 is ABSURDLY important when comparing that stat.

What you really don’t like is you think I’m trying to make it seem like Steph’s run those 2 years was as good as Lebron’s version in this statistic. Guess what, I never even said that. But the fact of the matter is Steph’s +17 and +18 net rating were with Dray/Klay/Iggy only first, and another +17 with KD that last year. It’s crucial context and I am well within my right to point it out.

DVRCWHY

2 | 5 hours ago

LeBron and Steph are just amazing people. I feel lucky that they played basketball while I was alive

Akipella | Warriors

2 | 5 hours ago

Yeah ~2010’s era was some of the most peak basketball ever played.

Far_Outcome_6540 | Knicks

3 | 4 hours ago

20 Giannis is so underrated cause his teammates weren’t really that good outside of Khris.Everyone else were just role players

throwaway641929

1 | an hour ago

Brook was really good that year and underrated. But yeah the rest were meh at best.

pick-and-hoop | Spurs

1 | an hour ago

Eric Bledsoe was quite good too, often known as a mini Westbrook back then

sctthuynh | GSW

1 | 2 hours ago

Lebron’s physical peak was probably somewhere around 2008 to 2012 (ages 24 to 28). He was massively strong, incredibly fast and explosive, but he was still improving as a basketball player.

I think he was at his best from 2013 to 2018 as he expanded his low post game and improved his outside shooting.

Lebron was a much more consistently great postseason player in his second prime. Conversely he was much more laxed in his effort during the regular season, which can be seen by his number of MVP awards post 2013.

No-Afternoon-3986

1 | an hour ago

bron has picked his teams (and teammates really) since that first cavs stint. so of his 22 seasons, at this point less than a third of it was w/ that first cavs run. just saying

One_Seaworthiness323

0 | an hour ago

Played weak ass Detroit in round 1 and weak ass Atlanta in round 2 🤣 that’s anything to brag about? Now compare that to Kobe’s comp in the west. If only Kobe had it that easy.

SebastianC1

1 | 22 minutes ago

LeBron James 08-10 is the best basketball he ever played until he hurt his elbow in the playoffs. Cleveland still lost because not a single soul ever was winning the title with those 2 teams. I hate bron going to Miami but that brother had to leave

buffalobill41 | Mavericks

1 | 14 minutes ago

By Steve Nash MVP metrics Mo Williams won them 21 more games that year.

iggymcfly

2 | 6 hours ago

Best season of basketball ever played

Raonak | New Zealand

-8 | 3 hours ago

LeBron doesn’t make his teammates better even when he has a loaded roster. He often makes his star teammates worse offensively.

Slick_Rhoads

1 | 2 hours ago

If he wins that much without making his teammates better he must really be the goat then

Raonak | New Zealand

0 | an hour ago

Longest career in the sport and only wins 4 rings. He really is nowhere close to being a goat

In the 2009 nba season, LeBron lead a career high +15 on court net rating with Mo Williams as his 2nd best player. He then averaged 7 more points per game in the playoffs while increasing his efficiency, and lowering turnovers