Top 5 NBA sophomore seasons by a point guard in the 21st century

LaMelo Ball started off the 2021-22 NBA season with tremendous performances, picking where he left off after his rookie year ended in the 2021 Play-In tournament. Likewise, the 2019-20 Rookie of the Year, Ja Morant, also had a brilliant sophomore season for his team last year. That is exactly what Ball will be looking to emulate in the current NBA season.

Zion Williamson gave the New Orleans Pelicans an All-Star-caliber season as a sophomore. He is expected to remain a dominant performer for years to come, despite some health concerns. However, this article will take a look at point guards who were impressive during their sophomore campaign in the NBA.

Five best sophomore seasons from an NBA point guard in the 21st century

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Superstars of the past have led their teams to NBA championships and have won MVP trophies and other big accolades in their sophomore campaign in the league. Among point guards, Oscar Robertson had one of the most impressive sophomore seasons ever, as he averaged a triple-double for the entire campaign in 1961-62.

Another point guard, like Magic Johnson, guided his team to an NBA title and won the NBA Finals MVP as a rookie, but that's probably never happening again. Today's era has seen some great point guards start their careers and impact the game positively, and they are finding consistency as their careers go on.

This article, however, will look back and give you the top five sophomore seasons from a point guard in the NBA in the 21st century.

Without further ado, let us take a look.

#5 Ben Simmons

Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers drives.

Regardless of what the current state of Ben Simmons' NBA career is, he certainly made a huge entrance into the NBA. Of course, his rookie year was his second season in the league, but he had missed his entire campaign due to injury.

In his sophomore season, Simmons became an All-Star after winning the Rookie of the Year and he helped the Philadelphia 76ers reach the second round of the NBA Playoffs in the 2018-19 campaign.

Simmons averaged 16.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game during his second NBA season, and had 10 triple-doubles.

#4 Chris Paul

Chris Paul is one of the greatest point guards in NBA history, and his supreme talent to run the position started to show quite early in the league. Paul won the NBA Rookie of the Year award in his first campaign, but he backed it up with a nice sophomore campaign.

The future Hall-of-Famer put up 17.3 points, 8.9 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game as a sophomore for the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets in the 2006-07 season.

Paul was just a season away from finishing in the Top 5 in the NBA MVP voting, but he was certainly great in his sophomore campaign.

Also Read: Who is Chris Paul’s wife, Jada Crawley?

#3 Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose is not and hasn't been an NBA MVP candidate for close to a decade now. However, his first years in the NBA (even before his MVP season) were quite impactful and extraordinary.

In his sophomore season, after winning the 2008-09 Rookie of the Year with the Chicago Bulls as the first overall pick of the 2008 NBA Draft, Rose followed it up by becoming an All-Star.

In the 2009-10 NBA campaign, Rose averaged 20.8 points, six assists and 3.8 rebounds per game in the regular season (78 appearances). He made 48.9% of his field goals that year and helped the Bulls reach the NBA Playoffs.

He made it to the All-Star Game for the first time in his career (the first of three) and Rose became an NBA MVP the following season.

#2 Damian Lillard

Damian Lillard #0 of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Damian Lillard won the 2012-13 NBA Rookie of the Year award ahead of some big names, such as Anthony Davis and Bradley Beal, who finished second and third in the ROY voting, respectively.

Lillard's rookie season was impressive, but his sophomore season showed the ability to make big shots in big moments. In the regular season, Lillard added 20.7 points, 5.6 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game while appearing in all 82 games for the second time in two years in the league.

Lillard also had a 42/39/87 shooting split as a sophomore, earning a spot in the All-Star Game and one on the All-NBA Third Team.

In the 2014 NBA Playoffs, Lillard hit a buzzer-beating, series-clinching three-pointer against the Houston Rockets in Game 6 of the first round to put the Portland Trail Blazers in the second round.

#1 Luka Doncic

Luka Doncic #77 of the Dallas Mavericks.

Luka Doncic had one of the greatest sophomore seasons in recent memory, and he was certainly an NBA MVP candidate from his first dribble as an NBA sophomore.

The Dallas Mavericks' floor general won the Rookie of the Year award after the 2018-19 NBA regular season and he had an even more impressive sophomore campaign.

The Slovenian superstar, who had a bit of a slow start to the 2021-22 NBA season, became an NBA MVP contender in the 2019-20 season with the Mavs, and he led the league in triple-doubles at age 21, becoming the youngest to ever do so after breaking Magic Johnson's record.

Doncic averaged 28.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists and put up a 46/31/75 shooting split in the 2019-20 regular season. He appeared in 61 games throughout the shortened regular season, and later put up 31 points, 9.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game in the first round of the postseason against the LA Clippers, who were favorites to win the title (it was Doncic's first playoff series).

The Slovenian earned All-NBA First Team honors and finished fourth in the NBA MVP voting.