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130 sats \ 10 replies \ @Undisciplined OP 9h \ parent \ on: Has anyone ever been better at basketball than Nikola Jokic? Stacker_Sports
I haven't really thought this through, but imagine going through all of the best teams ever and swapping their best player for Jokic.
I bet most of them would look better, even though they were designed around a completely different type of player.
Another hypothetical would be something like: Who would you draft first in an all-time legends league with
I think Jokic has a decent case to go first for any value of
But I think even though he does so many things well, there's this idea I can't shake of "dominance" at a position. How do I think he would fare going up against prime Shaq, who has a team of other legends backing him up? I'm not so sure. That's why I'm not prepared to say Jokic is the best player of all time with a high degree of confidence.
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Who's Shaq defending, though? Because it sure as shit ain't Joker.
I love this particular thought experiment. Years ago I read a pretty awesome argument that Rodman should be the first pick in a draft like this. It was based around a bunch of analytics that show him being so great at rebounding and defense that once you have Rodman on your team you don't have to worry about how good the rest of your players are at those things.
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That's tough though because it is really only this recent era of basketball where a big man would be allowed to play the way Jokic plays so it is hard to compare. Would he be able to play this way in a different style of game or would he look even better than he does now as opponents would have no clue what to do against him.
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There's a decent comparison in Bill Walton, who had similar passing ability and some range as a shooter. Obviously, they're fairly different, but if Walton's body had held up he was on track to be the best player of his era.
The other comp that comes to mind is Wilt. Once he stopped trying to score all the time, he actually started winning more and even led the league in assists one season.
So, pass first, talented scoring centers have been great in past eras. I think they're just very rare.
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No, but there also weren't threes. They both took a decent amount of midrange shots. One of Wilt's favorite shots was almost identical to Dirk's iconic one-legged fadeaway.
Wilt mostly facilitated out of the post to shooters and cutters, but Walton often orchestrated the offense from the top of the key or the elbows. Although, he mostly made sick passes from the block.
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They might have gotten to something like Brook Lopez levels of shooting, although Wilt was such a bad FT shooter it seems unlikely for him.
Jokic is on such another level, though. He's shooting from three better than Dirk, on higher volume, and he's scoring around the basket more efficiently than prime Shaq. It's really insane.