I don’t think it can even be argued against that Jokic is one of the greatest centers to ever play the game. The man already has 2 MVPs, a Finals MVP, and a championship at 28 years of age. As long as he doesn’t face any injuries, his play style isn’t exactly one that will quickly deteriorate as he grows older. But where do you think he already ranks among All-Time centers? What does he have to accomplish to be considered at the level of players like Hakeem?
(please don’t misinterpret that as me saying Jokic has already surpassed Olajuwon, I just thought it was a fun benchmark to use)
So I think without an entire career of excellence I think you can’t reasonably put him ahead of Hakeem, Shaq, Wilt, Russell, or Kareem. To me he is either 6th or 7th, and the person he is competing with is David Robinson. Personally I think Jokic is the better basketball player peak wise. From an accomplishments standpoint he has the extra MVP, and a championship as the clear best player. So I think by the end of his career Jokic will be clearly ahead of DRob, but right now DRob has more years of elite play, so I would not fight anyone who had DRob 6.
The next person is usually Moses Malone, and I actually feel pretty strongly that Jokic is better, but i’m probably lower on Moses and higher on DRob than most people.
Really well stated. I’m personally really high on Moses strictly based on career comparisons, but Jokic will most likely turn out to be a better player than him by the time he’s done. I also think the Admiral has a strong argument, but like Malone he has his whole career layed out in front of him while Joker has a while left to go, so its hard to say right now