Listing the 3 players with the highest Player Efficiency Rating (PER) in a single NBA season
Advanced stats are in the NBA to stay. Whether you like them or not, some of those numbers are quite close to showing the reality and are faithful to what happens on the court.
Player Efficiency Rating (PER) is one of those stats that can be used to reliably evaluate performance, although nothing will replace the eye test and there aren't any statistics more important than the scoreboard yet in the NBA.
Still, PER has been quite loyal to what we've seen on the court throughout league history. The statistic has been helpful in defining which players have been the best and most efficient.
The Player Efficiency Rating, however, can be driven by offensive numbers, but it is a reliable tool to judge a player's impact on the game. Not the only tool, of course.
Top 3 players with the highest Player Efficiency Rating (PER) in a single NBA season
The Athletic's John Hollinger developed the PER concept. He defined it with the following paragraph:
"The PER sums up all a player's positive accomplishments, subtracts the negative accomplishments and returns a per-minute rating of a player's performance."
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic won the MVP award for the second consecutive season and his advanced stats were quite unique in the 2021-22 NBA campaign.
Let's take a look at where Jokic's 2021-22 effort ranked all-time in terms of single-season PER grading.
In this article, we'll give you the Top 3 individual seasons in NBA history in terms of Player Efficiency Rating (PER).
Without further ado, let us start.
#3 Giannis Antetokounmpo | 2021/22 NBA season
Giannis Antetokounmpo has been named the best basketball player on the planet over the last few seasons. His achievements in recent years have definitely been representative of a superstar.
He's won two MVPs, a championship, a Finals MVP and a Defensive Player of the Year award, among many other accolades, in the last four seasons.
Moreover, Antetokounmpo has recorded two of the top four PER scores in a single season in NBA history, with his score in the past season and in the 2019-20 campaign.
In the 2021-22 regular season, Antetokounmpo was a clear candidate for the MVP and finished third in the voting after posting the third-highest PER in a single season in league history, with a score of 32.05.
#2 Wilt Chamberlain | 1961/62 NBA season
Wilt Chamberlain will usually be found on lists that talk about offense or an offensive-driven stat, which the Player Efficiency Rating is.
Chamberlain was probably the most dominant player in NBA history, as he put up incredible numbers in his early years in the league. Chamberlain won four MVP awards, with his first one coming in his rookie season (he was the first of two to do it in league history, alongside Wes Unseld).
In the 1961-62 season, Chamberlain posted a record 50.4 points per game in the regular season, a record that will probably stand throughout our lifetime. Moreover, he scored 100 points in a game against the New York Knicks on March 2nd, 1962 and also posted the then highest PER in a single season, with a tremendous 32.1.
#1 Nikola Jokic | 2021/22 NBA season
Nikola Jokic deservedly won his second consecutive MVP trophy in the 2021-22 season after posting a unique campaign with the highest Player Efficiency Rating in a single season in league history, at 32.8.
The Serbian center guided the shorthanded Denver Nuggets' squad (without starters and borderline All-Stars Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr.) to the postseason and was efficient and dominant.
Jokic averaged 27.1 points (sixth in the league), 13.8 rebounds (second), 7.9 assists (eighth) and made 58.3% of his field goals. He also led the league in Win Shares, Box Plus/Minus and Value over Replacement, among many other advanced stats.