Ranking Nikola Jokic among the best big-men of all-time
Photo by Jack Dempsey
The center position has been a strong player in the NBA throughout its rich history. Every decade and every era of basketball has featured talented big men that have dominated the game for years and have cemented their names among the greatest basketball players to ever live.
Dating back to as early as the 1960s, Wilt Chamberlain was so dominant that many consider him the most dominant basketball player of all time. It always seemed that Chamberlain was way ahead of his time, and nobody in his era could match his greatness. The great Bill Russell won eleven championships and is widely considered the greatest defensive rebounder and defender to ever play. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had a dominant 20-year career and was the NBA’s all-time leading scorer before being passed by LeBron James just this season. Moses Malone absolutely dominated in the 1980s and may be the most underrated basketball player ever. It doesn't stop here. Hakeem Olajuwon went head-to-head with Michael Jordan and won multiple championships in the 1990s. Shaquille O’Neal won multiple championships and league MVPs as he dominated the league throughout the 1990s and the early 2000s. A few more all-time great centers have also come along such as David Robinson, Dwight Howard, Joel Embiid, and Nikola Jokic.
So, where does Nikola Jokic rank among these legends? Jokic was a second-round pick back in 2014 and is on the verge of winning his first NBA championship as he closes out what might be the greatest individual playoff run we have ever seen. In the regular season, Jokic averaged a near triple-double with 24.8 points per game, 11.8 rebounds per game, and 9.8 assists per game. If you thought that was impressive, Jokic is now averaging 30.1/13.3/9.8 in the postseason while also shooting an insane 47% from the 3-point line. The Nuggets' big man is something that we have never seen before at the center position. His touch around the rim, his ability to make crazy fadeaway three-pointers, and most importantly, his passing and playmaking ability are truly a joy to watch.
But is this enough to cement Jokic as a top-10 center of all time? If he wins the championship this year, Jokic would have a ring, a finals MVP, five All-NBA selections, two league MVP awards, and five All-Star appearances. Jokic still has a long career ahead of him, and he certainly could go down as a top-three center of all time when his career is over. Although it is definitely too early to put the Joker in conversations with Shaq, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, he certainly has a case to already be ahead of greats like Moses Malone, David Robinson, and Dwight Howard. Either way, there is no question that Nikola Jokic is one of the faces of the NBA right now and is creating a pathway for himself to be of legend status.
