Michael Jordan stands as the consensus greatest player of all time, but George Karl thinks he’s nowhere near the level of Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic in terms of overall importance for collective success.
The Hall of Fame mentor publicly delivered the bold claim in his personal account on X (formerly Twitter), instantly drawing thousands of mixed reactions across the digital basketball media space.
“The Nuggets have been MORE reliant on Joker the past five years than the Bulls EVER were on Jordan,” Karl wrote. “Jokic is the primary rebounder, passer, playmaker and leader every game!”
Karl fully witnessed and battled Jordan during his coaching days. As such, his massive take truly makes sense out of the experience.
Jordan is absolutely the majority’s GOAT player, but it would be foolish not to acknowledge the elite supporting cast he enjoyed throughout the course of his NBA reign. Jordan stood as the alpha of the Chicago Bulls in the ‘90s, but he didn’t singlehandedly carry the franchise to a dynastic distinction as the likes of Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Horace Grant, and Toni Kukoc were some of the key few names he shared the court with.
Jokic, on the other hand, is considerably a one-man wrecking crew due to his generational all-around talent for the Nuggets. If compared to Jordan’s star power support, the reigning league MVP can only state Jamal Murray — who is yet to earn an NBA All-Star nod — as his best teammate in both performance and accolades standpoint.
Jordan’s greatness can’t be denied and his place in the NBA’s mountaintop has been cemented already, but he had a heck of a group behind which helped him savor his current prestige. He never had to worry about any other areas beyond scoring as Pippen, Rodman, and Co. have perfectly handled the dirty work for him in Chicago. Besides, Phil Jackon’s coaching philosophy worked perfectly in his favor.
As for Jokic, he has been the system of the Nuggets in which the entire team relied on the way he operates. Without the Serbian star’s scoring, passing, and wonders, Denver is certainly a lottery team level.
This comparison and argument shouldn’t diminish Jordan’s case as the greatest ever. As such, this only shows how special Jokic has been as the current best player in the world. Averaging 29.9 points, 13.4 boards, and 10.4 boards who recently clinched a historic milestone, no words can further describe how extraordinary he is.
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