It has been reported that Zack Martin, the starting Right Guard for the Dallas Cowboys since 2014 will be retiring, and that brings us a heavyweight contender for the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2025.

Martin played his college ball at Notre Dame where he helped bring them to the 2013 BCS Championship Game.  He was drafted in the First Round (16th Overall) in 2014 by the Cowboys, where he immediately win the job at Right Guard.

Martin would become one of the best Guards in Cowboys history, earning seven First Team All-Pros, two Second Team All-Pros and 10 Pro Bowls.  He is now eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2024, and in our 2024 Pre-Season Hall of Fame monitor, he was ranked #4 Overall and #1 among Offensive Linemen.

We here at notinhalloffame.com wish Zack Martin the best in his post-playing career.

There are always some standout performances in every NBA season. Certain players seem to transcend the game to carry their teams through the postseason and on to championship glory.

We have already seen some stunning individual contributions across the 2024/25 NBA campaign. Several stars remain in contention for the regular-season MVP award, but can their displays match the best individual NBA campaigns of all time?

The Class of 25

With around a third of the regular season, several names remain in the hat for this year’s Most Valuable Player award. At the top of the list, current NBA MVP odds show Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as the favorite to claim the accolade.

It’s already been an impressive campaign for the man from Oklahoma City Thunder. After 54 games this term, Gilgeous-Alexander had registered an average of 32 points per match, ranking highly for rebounds, assists, and steals.

Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, Jayson Tatum, and Nikola Jokic are also in contention for the 2025 MVP award. Each has delivered some stunning performances, but they have some way of matching the greatest individual NBA seasons. 

Stephen Curry: Golden State Warriors: 2015/16

Stephen Curry regularly delivers stunning stats, but the 2015/16 campaign was remarkable, even by his high standards. As the Golden State Warriors surged to their second Conference title in as many years, their key point guard returned some scarcely believable numbers.

Curry averaged over 30 points per game, but his most incredible stat involved his three-pointers. He shattered his previous record of 286 by posting no fewer than 402 three-point scores. It’s a milestone that may never be beaten, and while GSW ultimately fell short of winning the championship, Stephen Curry was rightly named the NBA’s regular season MVP.

LeBron James: Cleveland Cavaliers: 2008/09

Like Stephen Curry, LeBron James’ stunning 2008/09 season was ultimately in vain. Despite being the dominant franchise in the regular campaign, his Cleveland Cavaliers team lost to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference finals.

More than anyone else, the Cavs won 66 matches in the regular season, and James was the driving force behind their success. He averaged over 28 points and seven assists per game and was firm in defense. LeBron ranked highly for steals but couldn’t get Cleveland over the line.

Larry Bird: Boston Celtics: 1985/86

We could have picked any of Larry Bird’s campaigns in the early 80s. The Boston Celtics forward won his third regular season MVP award in succession in 1986, in what was a stunning effort.

He averaged over 25 points, with 9.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game. This was the year Bird established himself as an elite-level player and a future Hall of Famer. On this occasion, those efforts ended happily as Larry Bird won his third NBA Championship with the Celtics.

Michael Jordan: Chicago Bulls: 1987/88

Michael Jordan’s 1987/88 season was almost perfect. He finished the campaign as the NBA’s MVP and picked up the Defensive Player of the Year award. He claimed the MVP in the league’s All-Star game while finishing as the NBA’s scoring champion.

Jordan’s stats across the campaign were remarkable. He averaged exactly 35 points per game, along with 5.5 rebounds. His 3.2 steals per game also meant that he was the NBA’s steals leader.

It would have been the perfect season had it not been for the intervention of the Detroit Pistons. The Bulls lost to Detroit in the playoffs, and Air Jordan would have to wait another three years for his first NBA Championship.

Shaquille O’Neal: Los Angeles Lakers: 1999/2000

By sealing the NBA Championship in 2000, Shaquille O’Neal can lay a genuine claim to having delivered the best individual season ever. Along with his championship ring, the Shaq Attack claimed the MVP award in the regular campaign, the finals series, and the All-Star game.

This was the perfect campaign, with an average of 29.7 points and an exceptional 13.6 rebounds. Fittingly, O’Neal scored no fewer than 41 points in the sixth and last game of the finals series to seal the championship for his Lakers side.

The 2024/25 NBA season has already seen some brilliant individual performances. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s averages are so remarkable that it would be a severe shock if he didn’t win the MVP award.

Others are making contributions elsewhere and are ready to challenge the Oklahoma City Thunder for the NBA championship. Those stars will all be interested in landing the MVP in the finals series, where they can decide the trophy's destination. It will be fascinating to see the campaign reach its conclusion, but can anyone match the greatest individual NBA displays?

Additional Sources

https://www.oddschecker.com/basketball/nba/regular-season-mvp/winner 

Yes, we know that this is taking a while!

As many of you know, we at Notinhalloffame.com are slowly generating the top 50 of each major North American sports team. That being said, we have existing Top 50 lists and consistently look to update them when necessary and based on necessity. As such, we are delighted to present our post-2024 revision of our top 50 Oakland Athletics.

As for all of our top 50 players in baseball, we look at the following: 

1.  Advanced Statistics.

2.  Traditional statistics and how they finished in the American League.

3.  Playoff accomplishments.

4.  Their overall impact on the team and other intangibles that are not reflected in a stat sheet.

Please note that our algorithm has changed, which yielded minor changes throughout the baseball lists.

Last year, the Athletics had another awful year, which turned out to be their final season in Oakland, as they will be playing in Sacramento for three years until they move to Las Vegas.  There were no new entrants, but changes within the list based on the new algorithm.

As always, we present our top five, which saw a change at the top based on the new algorithm.

1. Rickey Henderson

2. Lefty Grove

3. Eddie Plank

4. Jimmie Foxx

5. Al Simmons

You can find the entire list here.

As mentioned above, Henderson overtook Grove for the top spot based on the new calculations.

We thank you for your continued support of our lists on Notinhalloffame.com.

We are diligently working away at Notinhalloffame on revising our Baseball and Football lists to reflect the winter’s respective classes.

As such, we are pleased to announce that we have revised 81-100 on the NIHOF Baseball list.

Those ranked are:

#81. Norm Cash
#82. Urban Shocker
#83. Jack Glasscock
#84. Carlos Delgado
#85. Bobby Matthews
#86. Mickey Lolich
#87. Babe Adams
#88. Tommy Bond
#89. Fred Lynn
#90. David Wright
#91. Don Newcombe
#92. Dwight Gooden
#93. Torii Hunter
#94. Tommy Leach
#95. John Olerud
#96. Boog Powell
#97. Wilbur Cooper
#98. Bob Johnson
#99. Julio Franco
#100. Dan Quisenberry

The current (and under construction) list is here.

Look for more updates soon!

Thank you all for your support of Notinhalloffame.com.