Michael Jordan's career average without his retirement comeback seasons

[Derivative]

Takes out MJ's retirement comeback season in 1995, 2001 and 2002, this is his career average.

31.6 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 5.4 APG, 2.5 SPG, 0.9 BPG

50.7 %FG, 32.9 %3FG, 83.8 %FT


I'm sorry but this is ****ing insane, too bad MJ was an idiot and had to play around with retirements and comebacks, really messed up his career average

[Money 23]

It's also insane considering many consider '96 to be the last true year os his prime @ 33 years old.

If he didn't play baseball, and stuck around for an attempt at a 4th ring in 1994. '94 being one of the last years of his peak. It's a safe assumption to guess he would've put up another 32 / 6 / 6 and 2 - 3 steals per game akin to 1993.

Then in '95 a slight regression. Probably 30 / 5 / 5, similar to his '96 numbers. And if he retired in '98 on that story book ending, things would've been ideal.

[Derivative]

this is why MJ shouldn't make a comeback anymore

[diamenz]

mj > god

[Dragonyeuw]

Dont forget his second season when he broke his foot and missed most of the year, that messed up his career average too because no doubt he'd have averaged 30+ that year.

[DMV2]

Dont forget his second season when he broke his foot and missed most of the year, that messed up his career average too because no doubt he'd have averaged 30+ that year.
This.

OP should calculate his career stat from 1984-1998 but exclude the 1986, 1995 seasons. 1994 season already has no data.

[Clifton]

I'm sorry but this is ****ing insane,
Yes, it is.

I don't mean to bring Kobe into this, but it's funny to think that Kobe's only had one season scoring more than Jordan's CAREER AVERAGE before 40. Against an era anyone would tell you is tougher. Jordan had a physical dominance that just wasn't fair. There were the fadeaways and pullups he would take, like Kobe; but there would also be those times he would sneak into the lane and it was a guaranteed bucket, like Lebron or Shaq. Kobe doesn't have that physical advantage over people and that's why he can't be Jordan, good as he is, even if his shot selection were better.

[KrizMiz]

Kobe without the games under 80 points....

career stats : 81 ppg !!!!!! incredible

[Real Men Wear Green]

If you cut out the post-prime seasons every player has better stats.

[Psileas]

If you cut out the post-prime seasons every player has better stats.

Pretty much this. Also, since Kobe was mentioned, pre-prime seasons should also be omitted - in other words, non-prime seasons in general.

[Psileas]

Yes, it is.

I don't mean to bring Kobe into this, but it's funny to think that Kobe's only had one season scoring more than Jordan's CAREER AVERAGE before 40.

Kobe had 2 such seasons (2006, 2007) and very close to 3 (2003). Plus, it makes little sense to mention someone's career average "before 40" if he's missed multiple non-prime years that would have brought his averages down - I'm talking in general here, not Kobe specifically.

[tmacattack33]

Dont forget his second season when he broke his foot and missed most of the year, that messed up his career average too because no doubt he'd have averaged 30+ that year.

Injuries happen to everyone.

That's ridiculous.


Now, taking away his Jordan years makes sense. That was when he was 40 and a completely different player. And normally, players don't come back at age 40.

But taking away stats because he was injured is ridiculous since almost every player who played for 10 + years has been similarly injured at some point.

[gengiskhan]

Kobe had 2 such seasons (2006, 2007) and very close to 3 (2003). Plus, it makes little sense to mention someone's career average "before 40" if he's missed multiple non-prime years that would have brought his averages down - I'm talking in general here, not Kobe specifically.

Allen Iverson had 3 such seasons too.

McGrady had 2 such seasons too.

MJ has played 15 yrs with ave of 30.12 ppg with 50%FG. Thats GOAT stat.

MJ's lowest season ave is 20 ppg at age 40. Thats GOAT stat too.

MJ missed 3 regular seasons b4 age 35. 1986, 1994 & 1995 (only played 17 games).

All those 3 seasons woul've yielded MJ ave of 31-32 ppgs.

MJ missed 2.5 reg seasons btw ages 35-40. 1999 (50 games season), 2000, 2001.

If MJ age 27 ppgs, 26 ppg, 25 ppg for 1999, 2000, 2001 reg seasons respective b4 23 ppg of 2002 & 20 ppg of 2003 season.

MJ's ave for 20 yrs in NBA will be 30.50 - 31.00 ppg which is still >>> 30.12 ppg off 15 seasons.

[Glide2keva]

Allen Iverson had 3 such seasons too.

McGrady had 2 such seasons too.

MJ has played 15 yrs with ave of 30.12 ppg with 50%FG. Thats GOAT stat.

MJ's lowest season ave is 20 ppg at age 40. Thats GOAT stat too.

MJ missed 3 regular seasons b4 age 35. 1986, 1994 & 1995 (only played 17 games).

All those 3 seasons woul've yielded MJ ave of 31-32 ppgs.

MJ missed 2.5 reg seasons btw ages 35-40. 1999 (50 games season), 2000, 2001.

If MJ age 27 ppgs, 26 ppg, 25 ppg for 1999, 2000, 2001 reg seasons respective b4 23 ppg of 2002 & 20 ppg of 2003 season.

MJ's ave for 20 yrs in NBA will be 30.50 - 31.00 ppg which is still >>> 30.12 ppg off 15 seasons.
In other words, he was a living cheat code.

[Segatti]

Kobe without the games under 80 points....

career stats : 81 ppg !!!!!! incredible
:lol

[tmacattack33]

Allen Iverson had 3 such seasons too.

McGrady had 2 such seasons too.

MJ has played 15 yrs with ave of 30.12 ppg with 50%FG. Thats GOAT stat.

MJ's lowest season ave is 20 ppg at age 40. Thats GOAT stat too.

MJ missed 3 regular seasons b4 age 35. 1986, 1994 & 1995 (only played 17 games).

All those 3 seasons woul've yielded MJ ave of 31-32 ppgs.

MJ missed 2.5 reg seasons btw ages 35-40. 1999 (50 games season), 2000, 2001.

If MJ age 27 ppgs, 26 ppg, 25 ppg for 1999, 2000, 2001 reg seasons respective b4 23 ppg of 2002 & 20 ppg of 2003 season.

MJ's ave for 20 yrs in NBA will be 30.50 - 31.00 ppg which is still >>> 30.12 ppg off 15 seasons.

Not sure why you're wasting energy trying to show how much better MJ is than Kobe. It's well known and nobody would argue it besides Kobe stans who are under 20 and never saw MJ play.

You should make some MJ vs Bird or MJ vs Wilt threads if you want to argue something.

[ShaqAttack3234]

OP, he played 17 games in '95, it really doesn't affect his career averages much. His numbers throughout his entire Bulls career were 31.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 5.4 apg, 2.8 TO, 2.5 spg, 0.9 bpg, 50.5 FG%, 33.2 3P%, 83.8 FT%. There's really no point in even excluding the '95 games.


It's also insane considering many consider '96 to be the last true year os his prime @ 33 years old.

MJ's true prime was from about '89-'93, imo. Could have lasted an additional season or 2, though. He had clearly lost a bit by second 3peat. Still the best in the game, but he no longer could use the same energy in all facets of the game consistently the way he did in the early 90's.

[Psileas]

Allen Iverson had 3 such seasons too.

McGrady had 2 such seasons too.

Yes, I know. So what? He mentioned Kobe, not Iverson, not TMac. If he had said something wrong about them, I would have corrected him as well.


MJ has played 15 yrs with ave of 30.12 ppg with 50%FG. Thats GOAT stat.

MJ's lowest season ave is 20 ppg at age 40. Thats GOAT stat too.

"X scoring record" and "GOAT stat" are two seperate things.


MJ missed 3 regular seasons b4 age 35. 1986, 1994 & 1995 (only played 17 games).

All those 3 seasons woul've yielded MJ ave of 31-32 ppgs.

MJ missed 2.5 reg seasons btw ages 35-40. 1999 (50 games season), 2000, 2001.

If MJ age 27 ppgs, 26 ppg, 25 ppg for 1999, 2000, 2001 reg seasons respective b4 23 ppg of 2002 & 20 ppg of 2003 season.

MJ's ave for 20 yrs in NBA will be 30.50 - 31.00 ppg which is still >>> 30.12 ppg off 15 seasons.

And EVEN IF ALL these things happened, his career stats would still be worse than the stats he'd produce if he only played in prime years. And the OP would still make the same point. So, what exactly are you arguing about?

[Derivative]

bump

[ThaRegul8r]

If he didn't comeback, he also wouldn't have 30,000+ career points.

People can't have it both ways.

[Derivative]

If he didn't comeback, he also wouldn't have 30,000+ career points.

People can't have it both ways.


career total stats don't mean anything, anyone can get high totals if they play long enough and are decently good. but not everyone can get a higher career average

[STATUTORY]

Lets see Kobe's career average over the legal drinking age

[305Baller]

love trumps numbers everytime.

[ThaRegul8r]

career total stats don't mean anything, anyone can get high totals if they play long enough and are decently good. but not everyone can get a higher career average

If that were true, no one would talk about John Stockton. But "all-time assist leader" is always brought up, and sometimes "all-time steals leader" if they want to use it as proof he was a good defender.

Everyone who talks about Hakeem brings up his being the "all-time blocks leader," and his high career rank in steals, since that's his case for being Top 2 defender, or GOAT for those who believe so.

Before the end of this season, which put things in doubt, people made a big deal about Kobe passing Jordan for career points in the future and speculated on whether he could catch Kareem. So it's false to say career stats don't mean anything, when they're always brought up when they suit the agenda.

[Dragonyeuw]

Injuries happen to everyone.

That's ridiculous.


Now, taking away his Jordan years makes sense. That was when he was 40 and a completely different player. And normally, players don't come back at age 40.

But taking away stats because he was injured is ridiculous since almost every player who played for 10 + years has been similarly injured at some point.

I don't see why it matters either way in the context of this particular discussion. We're simply, for shits and giggles, subjectively removing seasons that aren't in line with his peak. In that regard, the seasons that qualify are his 2nd season injured year, and his wizard years. Obviously all of these years count as legit seasons towards his averages in the big picture, but this is just a hypothetical discussion.

The reality is in his second season, he played 17 games and averaged 22 points, largely a result of limited minutes upon his return. In the context of this discussion, I don't see why bringing up that this season skewed his averages along with the wizard years is ridiculous. Its not about the fact that 'everyone gets injured', that has no bearing on my main point. I merely suggest that his career averages are adversely affected by that 2nd season, just as they are impacted by the Wizard years (again in the context of discussing anomalous years that don't represent his prime or peak).

[La Frescobaldi]

career total stats don't mean anything, anyone can get high totals if they play long enough and are decently good. but not everyone can get a higher career average
lololololololol

[jstern]

Those number would have been more insane if he hadn't retired the 1st time. More prime years of 31+ scoring. Imagine how many career points he would have had.

[dh144498]

career total stats don't mean anything, anyone can get high totals if they play long enough and are decently good. but not everyone can get a higher career average

another know nothing basketball "fan" who only looks at basketball reference stat sheets and knows nothing about the past and present all time greats. :oldlol:

[Derivative]

Goat

[LAZERUSS]

Wilt's numbers before he shredded his knee in the 69-70 season...

In his ten seasons, he averaged 34.4 ppg, 24.3 rpg, 4.5 apg, and shot .530 (in leagues that averaged about .435 in that time frame.) And, in that 68-69 season, and at age 32, he put up two 60+ point games, as well.

[thabisyo]

Since get to be picky, what is lebron's average in game 7's since it is all about that pressure of an elimination game :applause:

[riseagainst]

Since get to be picky, what is lebron's average in game 7's since it is all about that pressure of an elimination game :applause:

or just dominate from the start and not having to play a game 7.

[Trollsmasher]

MJ stans getting desperate:lol

[TheMan]

MJ stans getting desperate:lol
:oldlol:

MJ > all

Anyone who disagrees clearly never watched prime MJ.:bowdown:

[Derivative]

bump

[becken]

mj > god
:coleman: :coleman:

[Angel Face]

His stint with the wizards affected his average. His Bulls' average is hard to surpass. Too good! GOAT gonna GOAT!