BILL SIMMONS SAYS NIKOLA JOKIC IS ONE OF THE BEST PLAYOFF PERFORMERS EVER: "THE CLOSEST I COULD GET WAS LEBRON FROM 2015-18"
Nikola Jokic is having one of the most dominant runs in NBA history. The Denver Nuggets big man won back-to-back MVPs in 2021 and 2022 and was named the 2023 NBA Finals MVP after a historic playoff run.
Two games into the 2024 postseason, "The Joker" continues to show an unprecedented level of greatness. According to Bill Simmons, that's enough to label the Serbian unicorn as one of the best players in playoff history.
"He's one of the greatest playoff performers in the history of the league, which I don't think gets mentioned that much, if not ever," he said on the latest episode of "The Bill Simmons Podcast."
Jokic's playoff greatness
Jokic's playoff runs from 2021 up to Game 1 against the Los Angeles Lakers have been otherworldly. During this four-year stretch, "The Joker" is putting up 30-13-8 on 54/41/80 shooting splits.
"31.6 PER, which is just like levitating above just about anybody. His .301 win shares per 48. It's just like, it's obscene," Bill said.
"And I was like; I wonder if anyone's even close to this in the last 50 years,' and went through. And the closest I could get was LeBron from 2015-18 averaged 31-10-8 but his advanced stats weren't as good. Jordan from 1990-93 was 34 points a game, 7 and 7. And then the legend Larry Bird 1984-87, 27-10-7 and almost 50-40-90. And Giannis was the only other one I could find 19-22 is 29-13-6," Simmons added.
According to Basketball Reference, Jokic has the highest playoff PER in the history of the NBA at 29.18. The great Michael Jordan is second at 28.60, while George Mikan is third at 28.51. No other player has a career playoff PER of over 28.
Joker shines again in Game 2
While advanced stats like PER are difficult to digest for ordinary NBA fans, judging a player's actual performance isn't. On Monday night, Jokic proved his greatness again as he rallied the Nuggets from 20 points down to stun the Lakers in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.
Although Jamal Murray sank the game-winner, the two-time MVP registered his first triple-double of the 2024 playoffs with 27 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, and two steals.
When we talk about the best playoff performers, guys like Jordan, Bird, LeBron, Magic Johnson, or even Kobe Bryant often get mentioned. However, none of them matches the statistical dominance Nikola continues to display. And if that results in another title for the Nuggets, it'll be even harder to dispute Bill's take that we are witnessing one of the best (if not the best) postseason performers ever.
2024-04-23T11:35:20Z dg43tfdfdgfd