The Whiteboard: No scorer in the 3-point era can be compared to Michael Jordan
By Ti Windisch
The NBA is currently home to some absolutely dynamic offensive talents, but none of them should be held up against Michael Jordan.
Two separate instances recently made me think more about Michael Jordan and how he stacks up to some of the best offensive players in the league right now. Obviously the LeBron James – Jordan debate is infinite, but that’s old and getting boring. This is different than that.
The first instance was one of my friends texting me to ask me if James Harden was the most gifted offensive player ever after his 60-point triple-double. The second was me thinking to myself that the variety of moves Donovan Mitchell uses to attack the basket could be considered Jordan-esque.
After going back and revisiting just what MJ was able to do on a regular basis, I’ve come to the conclusion that both of those takes are stupid. Due to some combination of a changing NBA and a talent disparity, there is simply no comparison to be made between Jordan and today’s scorers.
Harden’s six-year run with the Rockets has been incredible, no doubt about it. There’s also no argument to be made that he was more effective on offense over those six seasons than Jordan was at nearly any point in his career.
In Houston, Harden has averaged 27.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 7.7 assists, and 1.7 steals per game while shooting 44.3 percent from the field and 36.3 percent from deep. Again, those are just really great numbers that confirm what the eye test shows — Harden has been one of the league’s premier players in that stretch.
In Michael Jordan’s first six years he averaged 30.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 2.6 steals per 36 minutes (to avoid the numbers seeming ballooned because of Jordan’s mammoth minutes played per game in that stretch) while shooting 51.6 percent from the field and just 28.2 percent from deep. This was all before he won his first three consecutive titles.
Stephen Curry lit the world on fire during the 2015-16 regular season, putting up a league-leading 30.1 points per game. He contributed 17.9 wins to the Golden State Warriors that year as per win shares. Curry was the unanimous MVP for a reason — he was far and away the most effective offensive player in the league.
Across all 15 of his NBA seasons, Jordan averaged 30.1 points per game. He led the NBA in scoring for 10 consecutive seasons, not counting the year he didn’t play and the 1994-95 season where he played just 17 games. He added more wins to the Bulls than Curry did to the Dubs that season six different times. His averages across that span are ludicrous.
| Season | Age | Tm | GS | MP | FGA | FG% | 3PA | 3P% | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984-85 | 21 | CHI | 82 | 38.3 | 19.8 | .515 | 0.6 | .173 | 9.1 | .845 | 6.5 | 5.9 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 28.2 |
| 1985-86 | 22 | CHI | 7 | 25.1 | 18.2 | .457 | 1.0 | .167 | 6.9 | .840 | 3.6 | 2.9 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 22.7 |
| 1986-87 | 23 | CHI | 82 | 40.0 | 27.8 | .482 | 0.8 | .182 | 11.9 | .857 | 5.2 | 4.6 | 2.9 | 1.5 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 37.1 |
| 1987-88 | 24 | CHI | 82 | 40.4 | 24.4 | .535 | 0.6 | .132 | 10.5 | .841 | 5.5 | 5.9 | 3.2 | 1.6 | 3.1 | 3.3 | 35.0 |
| 1988-89 | 25 | CHI | 81 | 40.2 | 22.2 | .538 | 1.2 | .276 | 9.8 | .850 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 3.6 | 3.0 | 32.5 |
| 1989-90 | 26 | CHI | 82 | 39.0 | 24.0 | .526 | 3.0 | .376 | 8.5 | .848 | 6.9 | 6.3 | 2.8 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 2.9 | 33.6 |
| 1990-91 | 27 | CHI | 82 | 37.0 | 22.4 | .539 | 1.1 | .312 | 8.2 | .851 | 6.0 | 5.5 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 2.8 | 31.5 |
| 1991-92 | 28 | CHI | 80 | 38.8 | 22.7 | .519 | 1.3 | .270 | 7.4 | .832 | 6.4 | 6.1 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 30.1 |
| 1992-93 | 29 | CHI | 78 | 39.3 | 25.7 | .495 | 2.9 | .352 | 7.3 | .837 | 6.7 | 5.5 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 2.4 | 32.6 |
| 1994-95 | 31 | CHI | 17 | 39.3 | 23.8 | .411 | 1.9 | .500 | 8.0 | .801 | 6.9 | 5.3 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 2.8 | 26.9 |
| 1995-96 | 32 | CHI | 82 | 37.7 | 22.6 | .495 | 3.2 | .427 | 8.0 | .834 | 6.6 | 4.3 | 2.2 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 30.4 |
| 1996-97 | 33 | CHI | 82 | 37.9 | 23.1 | .486 | 3.6 | .374 | 7.0 | .833 | 5.9 | 4.3 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 29.6 |
| 1997-98 | 34 | CHI | 82 | 38.8 | 23.1 | .465 | 1.5 | .238 | 8.8 | .784 | 5.8 | 3.5 | 1.7 | 0.5 | 2.3 | 1.8 | 28.7 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/6/2018.
Plainly put, Michael Jordan is simply on an entirely different plane than any scorer who’s come after him. No player in the 3-point era has scored more in a rookie campaign, and Jordan only got better from there. Three players have scored more total points than MJ: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, and Kobe Bryant. They played 20, 18, and 18 seasons, respectively.
Jordan played more than 20 games in just 13 NBA seasons, and two of those were in his late 30s with the Washington Wizards. In 11 real Bulls seasons, he put up enough points to put his total scoring on par with players who played ridiculously longer.
Comparisons can be fun, and the greatest of all time conversation is slightly more nuanced than the best scorer one is, but no offensive player since the 1980s can be honestly held up to Jordan. Nobody has come close to jumping over Jumpman when it comes to getting buckets.
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