Did Michael Jordan ever top Nikola Jokic’s current NBA playoff run?

Mark Kiszla: I’m not very good with numbers. Heck, I couldn’t remember the four-digit entry code to Team Post’s abode in South Florida without a cheat sheet. But I saw this stat from a hoops number-cruncher with a sense of history: Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is the first player in NBA history to produce 500 points, 250 rebounds and 150 assists in a single postseason. Sounds pretty, pretty good to me. Was Michael Jordan ever more dominant in the playoffs than the Joker we’re watching now? Has LeBron James or any other legend of the game ever done more for his team in the pursuit of a ring? Put it in historical perspective and explain it to me like I’m a 7-year-old child.

Mike Singer: Nikola Jokic is an unsolvable riddle capable of flummoxing even the NBA’s best coaches. Double-team him, and he’ll slice the defense with darts. Single-cover him and he’ll bully the defender like a bear. From 3-point range, he’s devastating. His touch is softer than a newborn’s. If there’s an answer for Jokic in the NBA, notoriously a copycat league, it hasn’t been discovered. Defensively, we’re all waiting for him to get exposed as promised. I don’t know if it’s more dominant than one of the many championship runs shepherded by LeBron or MJ, but I do know he impacts winning in the same manner. Joker’s superpower is that he does it his way, which is slow, methodical and precise. There’s more than one way to skin a cat. If I remember correctly, that was old friend Mr. James tipping his cap to Joker after he humbly swept him from the postseason.

Sean Keeler: The Gen X-er in me started screaming ‘Sacrilege!’ … until I hopped over to Basketball-Reference.com. The Joker’s in the same zip code, now, isn’t he? Jokic has now got 16 career NBA Playoff triple-doubles, 10 this spring alone, to Jordan’s … um, two. (And MJ never put up more than one during ANY postseason run.) Their positions were completely different, mind you, and Joker would rather referee one of The Post staff’s touch football games than take 45 shots in a postseason tilt, which Jordan did against Cleveland back in ’88. But the metrics say MJ had one slightly more dominant run, and only one: 1991, when His Airness nabbed his first title thanks to a playoff offensive rating of 127, a playoff Win-Share rate of .333 per 48 minutes, and a Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) of 2.9. Jokic’s put up an offensive rating of 129, a Win-Share rate of .306 per 48, and a VORP of 2.8 in ’23. So close. Really, really, really close.

Bennett Durando: The stats support MJ’s first championship run as the most remarkable individual display, but since we’re comparing against the ultimate team player in the Joker, I’m more inclined to look at the legendary 1995-96 Bulls — Jordan’s greatest team. Not only did they go 15-3 in the playoffs, never losing a Game 1 or Game 2 en route to the title, but Jordan averaged 30.7 points during that run and an offensive rating of 122.9 — the second-best of any postseason in his career. His win share rate per 48 minutes was .306, edging Jokic’s .305 this year, and second place that ‘96 postseason was .233. Jordan was the focal point of a dazzling, unstoppable offense, like Jokic. But to stand out as an individual so distinctly on the most accomplished team in NBA history puts Jordan in rarefied air. I’m surprised Jokic is so close.

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