In an episode of the Hoop Genius podcast, host BJ Armstrong spoke about the scoring prowess of Michael Jordan and predicted what the Chicago Bulls legend would average in today’s NBA. Sharing the Bulls locker room with Jordan for nearly six years, Armstrong was the first-hand witness to MJ’s scoring outbursts. The three-time NBA Champ is of the opinion that the 6ft 6” shooting guard will wreak havoc in the modern NBA.
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Compared to the 1990s era, the modern NBA has several rules to safeguard the offensive player. Even in the more physical era, with hand-checking taking place, Michael Jordan managed to average around 37 points per game. Hence, in today’s era, with hand-checking not permitted, BJ Armstrong believes that Jordan would average at least 45 points per game.
“I saw a man (Michael Jordan) averaging 37 a night with hand checking. With hand checking! Now, I gotta believe that’s at least eight more points on that without hand-checking. I’m just saying, I gotta believe,” BJ Armstrong said.
Hand checking was a part of the NBA where defenders were allowed to put both their hands into an offensive player’s chest or hips. Players would do so to prevent the offensive player’s path to the basket. Hand-checking was extremely essential for perimeter defenders.
However, in 2004, once Jordan retired and the league was lacking a similar type of offensive production, the NBA decided to remove the hand-checking rule. With the hand-checking rule being disallowed, the league saw an instant jump in points per game with guards like Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, and Tracy McGrady benefitting from the same.
There is no denying that MJ would’ve benefitted without the hand-checking rule. Jordan would’ve simply gotten more open looks to the basket or made several more trips to the charity stripe. Averaging 45 points per game sounds absurd. But, without the hand-checking rule, in the prime of his career, there is a possibility that Jordan could’ve achieved the same.
Several other legends have shown faith in the scoring prowess of Michael Jordan
There could be several fans and enthusiasts who wouldn’t agree with BJ Armstrong’s take. However, Armstrong isn’t the only player from Jordan’s era to believe that the latter would torch the current NBA.
Back in 2011, MJ’s long-time teammate Scottie Pippen made an appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show” and spoke about the hypothetical situation of Jordan playing in the modern era of the NBA. Apart from stating that His Airness would average over 40 points per game, Pippen was also confident that Jordan would be able to reach the 100-point milestone in a single game.
Metta World Peace was also one of the better defenders in the league whom Jordan torched regularly. Because MJ was a one-of-a-kind offensive superstar, who thrived in the more physical era of the league, World Peace claimed that the Bulls guard could average 50 points per game.
“Jordan would’ve averaged 50. If he wanted to. Jordan wants to average 50 if he was playing in this era, I think he averages 50,” World Peace told on the Club Shay Shay podcast in 2021.
Back in 1986-1987, when Jordan recorded 37.1 points per game, the league averaged 109.9 points per game. Considering that teams are averaging 115.2 points per game in today’s league, there could be a possibility that a prime Michael Jordan averages 40 + points per game in the current era.
