Better Offensive Peak: Jokic or MJ?

[1987_Lakers]

MJ has universally been regarded as the best offensive player in history during his peak, but I believe Jokic is giving him a run for his money. He isn't the overall scorer MJ was, but Jokic still gives you 26 a night on GOAT level efficiency while also being regarded as one of the greatest passers ever. Who do you got?

[Real Men Wear Green]

Jordan. Both can carry an offense and it will be on me if the best in the league. Jokic is also a pretty good closer. But Jordan is the greatest closer ever. Give me the guy you can have more faith in than anyone else to get a basket in the clutch.

And it's not like Jordan wasn't a good passer.

[FKAri]

MJ. That being said Jokic's offensive output isn't very indicative of his impact. He could jack up a lot more shots and dominate the ball in order to put up better stats to the detriment of the team.

[StrongLurk]

We have to see a bit more of Jokic. But for now, Jokic is absolutely in the conversation for highest offensive peak. Honestly, deciding MJ or Jokic will probably just come down to team composition.

[tpols]

Yolk is so far ahead as a passer and shooter. MJ has the athleticism but isn't generating offense like Jokic. The Nuggets have fielded way better team offenses than the 90s Bulls.

[1987_Lakers]

We have to see a bit more of Jokic.

Considering peaks are usually 2-4 years and Jokic is already 29 and about to win his 3rd MVP, I think it's safe to say we have already seen his peak, he's at the tail end of it.

[NBAGOAT]

he's in the convo. GOAT lvl playmaking just shouldnt be underrated. Offensive prime clearly greater than other all time greats in lebron and bird imo outside maybe a couple years from bron. Only guy from this era who can match jokic's prime on offense is curry who has the GOAT gravity and both are some of the most efficient stars of all time. Jokic doesnt have any dropoff in the playoffs however offensively. MJ is a better and more high volume shotmaker than both ofc but a big part of leading a great offense is getting easy shots for your teammates. Jokic/curry both do that better. ofc defense is where mj separates himself from those 2

[AlternativeAcc.]

Jokic and not all that close.

Jokic has averaged 30 on 62% TS in the playoffs since 21 and is arguably the best passer in history.

Mentioning baldan next to jokic is a bit disrespectful imo

[elementally morale]

We should revisit this question a few years later. I'm not sure we've seen the best version of Jokic yet. Jordan was great on those Bulls but the Joker's ability to play with and elevate anyone and every one is unique. If (and that is a big if) Jokic learns how to single handedly take over to close games than it's game over. His overall efficiency numbers are the best ever and his ability to orchestrate an offense are Magic-like. If he can incorporate a bit more of a Birdesque instinct, I'd say he is the best ever offensive player. He is quite easily top 5 ever as he is now. This efficiency rating of 46.0 he has against an AD led Lakers defense is unheard of. This season he is lacking some urgency so far, let's see what happens.

[fsvr54]

Lover Joker but MJ would've won game 4 against the Lakers. He would've crushed them.

[Im Still Ballin]

Hard to know. I don't know. They have such wildly different approaches and have played in drastically different circumstances. The best we can do is to analyze their respective abilities and look at stylistically comparable players in their respective eras to glean something and make hypothetical projections.

Shai and Ant are the closest stylistic comparisons to MJ today I'd say. Athletic, two-way elite shot-creating SGs with refined mid-range games and substantial slashing ability. Bird is probably the closest single player to Jokic from MJ's era but even that is severely lacking. Something of a mix of Bird, Magic, and McHale on offense seems about right.

I don't know. They're both great and on that all-time tier. That's all I'm confident in saying.

[elementally morale]

Lover Joker but MJ would've won game 4 against the Lakers. He would've crushed them.

Jordan and the Bulls lost quite a few games in their titles runs to worse teams than this Laker team. Not every game is a win. I agree Jokic played with a visible lack of urgency but still had 33/14/14. And it was probably his worst game of the series.

[Axe]

Lover Joker but MJ would've won game 4 against the Lakers. He would've crushed them.

(👁️👄👁️)

[StrongLurk]

Considering peaks are usually 2-4 years and Jokic is already 29 and about to win his 3rd MVP, I think it's safe to say we have already seen his peak, he's at the tail end of it.

MJ's peak is 88-93 in my opinion. So yes, we can still see a bit more of Jokic, specifically how this playoff run ends.

[Carbine]

I would say Jordan if we are accounting for the era in which they played in. Averaging 34 a game in the playoffs for the first three peat when scoring was harder to come by meant what he was the best at (scoring) was at a premium.

It was at even more or a premium in the last three peat when the Bulls as a team averaged 94 ppg in the playoffs and he was giving 31 a game.

.