In the 1990s, there wasn’t a team more dominant than the Chicago Bulls. Led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, the red and black absolutely destroyed every team in their path. To this day, they are considered one of the greatest dynasties of all time, and Jordan is widely thought of as the best player in NBA history.
This season, Nikola Jokic is making history. He has been amazing throughout the Denver Nuggets’ entire playoff run and is the first person in league history to have 500 points, 250 rebounds, and 150 assists in a single playoff run. So, the writers at The Denver Post posed the question, “Did Michael Jordan ever have a better playoff run than what Nikola Jokic’s doing in 2023?”
Three writers at The Post took a stab at the question, and while they were hesitant to put Jokic over Jordan (or LeBron James), they made sure to give him his flowers.
“I don’t know if it’s more dominant than one of the many championship runs shepherded by LeBron or MJ, but I do know he impacts winning in the same manner,” wrote Mike Singer. “Joker’s superpower is that he does it his way, which is slow, methodical and precise. There’s more than one way to skin a cat.”
Sean Keeler’s immediate reaction was that the question was blasphemy, but a closer look tells a different story.
“The Gen X-er in me started screaming ‘Sacrilege!’ … until I hopped over to Basketball-Reference.com,” Keeler wrote. “The Joker’s in the same zip code, now, isn’t he? Jokic has now got 16 career NBA Playoff triple-doubles, 10 this spring alone, to Jordan’s … um, two.”
And while Jokic is amazing, Jordan’s runs left fans with a different feeling entirely.
“Jordan was the focal point of a dazzling, unstoppable offense, like Jokic,” wrote Bennett Durando. “But to stand out as an individual so distinctly on the most accomplished team in NBA history puts Jordan in rarefied air. I’m surprised Jokic is so close.”
Is Jokic’s current playoff run better than anything Jordan ever did in the postseason? Probably not. But it’s awesome that the conversation even exists.
