Two MVP seasons and a MVP runner up. A reasonable comparison, I think.

Notes

• Regular season stats below.
• Did not include playoff stats but you should consider their postseason forms in your evaluation of them as a player. This is not “who had the best regular season?” It’s more like “which player do you trust more to win you a championship?”
• For 2011 Rose and 2017 Russ, try not to consider anything that happened after their MVP season.
• Yes I know Rose was far younger than them and this is inherently “unfair.” Speaks to how good he was.

2011 Rose

• 26.7 / 4.4 / 8.2 per 75 possessions

• +0.9% rTS%, 6.8 BPM

• +4.29 LEBRON (+4.29 off, -0.53 def)

• 62-19, +8.8 on-court, +2.8 on/off

2017 Russ

• 33.6 / 11.3 / 11.0 per 75 possessions

• +0.02% rTS%, 11.1 BPM

• +5.79 LEBRON (+5.63 off, +0.16 def)

• 46-35, +4.0 on-court, +12.5 on/off

2024 Shai

• 31.8 / 5.9 / 6.6 per 75 possessions

• +5.6% rTS%, 9.0 BPM

• +5.26 LEBRON (+4.34 off, +0.92 def)

• 55-20, +11.9 on-court, +11.4 on/off

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Bold indicates the highest value among the three. “LEBRON” is an all-in-one impact metric based on both box score data & play-by-play data.

Again, question is who is the best player, not who has the best stats - the stats should simply help inform you. Who would you trust most to win you a championship if you built a team around them? And rank the three.