Stars shine: NBA history s best five-year performance count

In basketball history, the NBA league has been full of stars, and many talented players have left countless memorable and exciting moments on the field. When we look back at the careers of those legendary players, we will find that they all had a highlight of five-year performance, and their statistics, honors and contributions to the team reached their peak during this period. Here is a detailed inventory of the best five-year performances in NBA history.

Jokic: Modern basketball's all-round center

Nicola Jokic's performance in the 2020-21 season to 2024-25 seasons is phenomenal. In the past five years, he averaged 26.8 points, 12.3 rebounds, 9.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game, shooting as high as 55.7%, three-point shooting percentage, 86.0% free throw shooting percentage, and +8.9% relative to the real shooting percentage, and the BPM value reached an all-time high of 13.1. With his outstanding individual performance, he won three regular season MVP trophys and one Finals MVP trophy and led the Nuggets to win the NBA championship in 2023.

Jokic's appearance completely revolutionized the traditional definition of the center position. He not only has strong scoring and rebounding skills in the interior, but also has delicate passing skills like a guard and a broad field vision, which can accurately create scoring opportunities for his teammates and activate the entire team's offense. However, the Nuggets' playoff performance in the past five years has been affected by factors such as injuries. In 2021 and 2022, Jamal Murray missed the playoffs due to torn ACL, Murray was plagued by hamstring injuries in 2024. Michael Porter Jr. also fought with injuries for most of the playoffs this season, and Aaron Gordon suffered a second-degree hamstring strain. Despite this, Jokic still brought the Nuggets to the forefront of the Western Conference with his own strength and won the championship in 2023, showing his strong personal ability and leadership temperament.

Jordan: The dominance of the God of Basketball

Michael Jordan averaged 32.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.7 steals in the five years from 1988-89 to 1992-93, with a shooting percentage of 49.4%, 34.1% from three-pointers, 84.1% from free throw percentage, +5.7% relative to true shooting percentage, and a BPM value of 11.2. During this period, he won the regular season MVP twice, won the championship three times, and was crowned the Finals MVP three times, selected for the All-Star lineup five times, selected for the NBA All-Squad Team one team five times, and selected for the All-Defensive Team one team five times.

Jordan's era was extremely competitive, and the league brought together a number of legendary superstars such as Charles Barkley, John Stockton, David Robinson and Hakeem Olajuwon. But with his transcendent athletic ability, superb basketball skills, revolutionary game style and strong desire to win, Jordan stood out among many experts and established his historical status as the God of Basketball. He averaged 34.5 points per game in the five years of playoffs, leading the Bulls to complete his first three-game title feat, showing the world his unparalleled dominance.

James: The peak of the All-Around Warriors

LeBron - James averaged 27.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.7 steals from the game between the 2008-09 season and the 2012-13 season, with a shooting percentage of 51.0%, 34.4% from three-pointers, 75.3% from free throw percentage, +6.7% from relative real percentage, and a BPM value of 11.1. In terms of honors, he won the regular season MVP four times, won the championship twice, won the Finals MVP twice, selected the All-Star lineup five times, selected the NBA All-Squad team one team five times, and selected the All-Defensive team one team five times.

James has shown his super personal ability in the past five years. He is not only talented on the offensive end, can score in many ways, but also has excellent organizational and tactically organized skills. He is the team's offensive core and tactical starting point. On the defensive end, James is also unambiguous. With his outstanding physical fitness and basketball IQ, he can defend multiple positions, providing solid guarantees for the team's defensive system. He led the Cavaliers and Heat to win many wins in the finals, proving himself to be one of the most dominant players in the league.

Curry: The pioneer of the three-point era

Stephen Curry averaged 26.5 points, 6.5 assists, 4.9 rebounds, hit 4.4 three-pointers, shooting 47.7% from the field, 42.1% from three-pointers, 91.7% from free throws, +9.9% from relative real shooting, and 8.8 BPM. During this period, he won the regular season MVP twice, won the championship three times, won the Finals MVP once, five All-Stars and five NBA All-Team First Team.

Curry changed the style of modern basketball with his extremely accurate three-point shooting ability and led the league's three-point shooting trend. His appearance made the team and players pay more attention to the role of three-pointers, and the offensive space was further opened, and the pace of the game was accelerated. Curry is not only extremely threatening outside the three-point line, but also has excellent performance in breakthroughs and passing, and can effectively tear the opponent's defense line and create opportunities for his teammates. He and the Warriors team formed by Thompson, Durant and other players swept the league in the past five years and established their own dynasty.

Magic Johnson: Representative of Gorgeous Basketball

Elwin - "Magic" Johnson averaged 21.5 points, 12.2 assists, 6.6 rebounds, 1.7 steals in the five years from 1983-84 to 1987-88, with a shooting percentage of 53.0%, a three-point shooting percentage of 39.8% (although there were fewer three-point shots at the time), a free throw percentage of 85.1%, a relative real shooting percentage of +7.1%, and a BPM value of 8.3. He won three regular season MVPs, three championships, three finals MVPs, five All-Stars, five NBA All-Squad, and five All-Defensive Team One Team.

As one of the greatest point guards in NBA history, Magic Johnson is known worldwide for his gorgeous passes and comprehensive skills. Not only can he pass the ball accurately to his teammates and create scoring opportunities, he also has excellent scoring and rebounding skills, and can play a role in multiple positions on the court. The basketball wisdom and creativity he showed in the game have injected soul into the Lakers' "performance moment" style and also allowed fans to feel the charm and fun of basketball.

Jabbar: Skyhook Legend

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averaged 30.6 points, 14.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 3.1 blocks per game in the five years from the 1975-76 season to the 1979-80 season, with a shooting percentage of 54.4%, free throw percentage of 72.6%, relative real shooting percentage + 6.6%, and a BPM value of 12.9. During this period, he won the regular season MVP twice, once won the championship, once won the Finals MVP, five selected to the All-Star lineup, five selected to the NBA All-Squad team, four selected to the All-Defensive team.

Jabbar takes his signature "Sky Gou" technique in the inside, and this almost defensive scoring method makes him unique in the league. Not only does he have strong firepower on the offensive end, but he also has excellent rebounding and blocking skills, and is the absolute core of the team's inside line. Jabbar's career spans multiple eras, his basketball skills and personal abilities have had a profound impact on later generations, and he is one of the most dominant centers in NBA history.

Larry Bird: Pride of White Players

Larry Bird averaged 27.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.9 blocks in the five years from 1983-84 to 1987-88, with a shooting percentage of 49.9%, 38.5% from three-pointers, 90.6% from free throw percentage, +4.8% relative to true shooting percentage, and 8.7 BPM. He won the regular season MVP three times, won the championship twice, won the Finals MVP twice, was selected into the All-Star lineup five times, was selected into the NBA All-Team first team and once was selected into the All-Defensive Team second team.

Bird is known for his superb shooting skills, comprehensive field vision and excellent basketball IQ. He is competent on multiple positions on the court and provides a full range of contributions to the team. His appearance broke the inherent perception that white players could not become superstars in the NBA league, and with outstanding personal performance and tenacious game spirit, he led the Celtics to compete fiercely with the Lakers in the 1980s, jointly promoting the prosperity of the NBA league.

Wilt - Chamberlain: During the five years from the 1959-60 season to the 1963-64 season, Chamberlain averaged 35.6 points, 24.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists, shooting 53.9% from the field and 60.6% from free throws, +3.6% relative to true shooting percentage and 14.9 BPM. During this period, he won the regular season MVP four times, five All-Stars, two NBA All-Team First Team and three NBA All-Team Second Team.

Chamberlain was one of the most dominant players in NBA history, and his physical fitness was a "ancient behemoth" at the time. His scoring and rebounding ability in the interior are unmatched, and he has set numerous unattainable records such as 100 points in a single game and 50.4 points per game per season. Despite the gap in team count and global talent reserves in his era compared to modern basketball, Chamberlain's personal ability and dominance are still an indelible monument in NBA history.

Giannis - Antetokounmpo: Rise of the Greek Monsters

Giannis - Antetokounmpo averaged 29.2 points, 12.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.2 blocks, 1.1 steals, shooting 54.1% from the field, 28.3% from three-point shooting percentage, 72.5% from free throws, +5.6% relative to true shooting percentage, and 10.1 BPM. He won the regular season MVP twice, once won the championship, once crowned the Finals MVP, five selected to the All-Star lineup, five selected to the NBA All-Squad team, four selected to the All-Defensive team.

Giannis is unique in the league with his outstanding physical fitness and unique playing style. He has super breakthrough ability, can create huge damage in the inside, and has certain external shooting threats and blocking defensive capabilities. He is the core of the offense and defense of the Bucks. Despite his relatively low three-point shooting percentage, he still led the Bucks to excellent results in the past five years with his outstanding athleticism and comprehensive skills.

Summary

At their respective five-year peak period, these legendary players wrote a brilliant chapter in NBA history with their talent, hard work and love for basketball. Their outstanding performance not only won numerous honors for themselves, but also promoted the development and progress of basketball, becoming a role model for future generations to learn and catch up with.. Every fan who has experienced their peak period will still remember the classic moments they left behind, and these memories together constitute the most brilliant chapter in this great basketball epic in the NBA.