Jokic and Giannis have nearly identical basketball resumes. Why is there such a huge gap in perception and all-time ranking between the two?
Source: https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/antetgi01.html (Stats from 2018-19 to today - the first year they both finished top 5 in MVP voting)
Giannis Antetokounmpo (29.4⁄11.8⁄6.0 on 63.1% TS): 1x Championship, 1x Finals MVP, 2x MVP, 1x DPOY, 9x All-NBA, 10x All-Star, 5x All-Defense, 1x MIP, various other accolades (1x ASG MVP, 1x NBA Cup, 1x NBA Cup MVP)
Nikola Jokic (25.1⁄11.8⁄8.7 on 64.9% TS): 1x Championship, 1x Finals MVP, 3x MVP, 7x All-NBA, 8x All-Star
Jokic has 1 more MVP, but Giannis has a DPOY, 5x All-Defense, and both more All-NBA and All-Star selections. Jokic is a superior playmaker and triple double machine with historic offensive impact but he’s a negative defender. Giannis is a 2-way wrecking ball who gives you 30/12/7 on historic efficiency while also being a DPOY and all time great defender.
Both rose to superstardom at the same time and peaked in the exact same era. Both have had to carry flawed supporting casts, both only made it out of the second round twice, both only have one ring that involved a good amount of luck.
Their careers actually mirror each other to a shocking degree. Both have:
- multiple MVPs in the same era
- only 2x making it past the second round: one championship run (2021, 2023) and a WCF loss to the eventual champ (2019, 2020)
- multiple runs where they lost due to injuries that shouldn’t be used to criticize them (2022-25 for Giannis, 2021⁄22 for Jokic)
- flawed supporting casts headlined by a homegrown scorer/shot creator (Murray/Middleton) and a defensive anchor (AG/Jrue)
- glaring weaknesses that shape team building but didn’t stop them from being all time great MVP level players (Giannis 3pt shooting, Jokic defense)
- both were underrated prospects who developed over time and blossomed into superstars by the end of the 2010s
They’re equal in my eyes, and I have no issue if fans prefer one over the other as it’s mostly a preference of offense vs. defense. My issue is with a large portion of fans declaring Jokic to be in a completely separate tier higher than Giannis all time when that’s not reasonable given their accomplishments.
Why do so many people, especially Bill Simmons, Zach Lowe, the Ringer folk, etc. as well as people on here rank Jokic so much higher? I’ve seen hot takes where people rank Jokic above Bird, Magic, Hakeem, Shaq, etc. while Giannis feels almost forgotten in all time convos.