Michael Jordan played at an MVP level every season, including his Rookie season.
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Michael Jodan’s career is nothing short of extraordinary. In his 13 years with the Chicago Bulls, his Airness racked up every award possible – 6x NBA champion, 6x FMVP, 10x scoring titles, 5x MVP to name a few.
Michael Jordan is the only player in league history to win MVP, Scoring Title, All-Defensive selection, NBA Championship, and Finals MVP.
Oh, and he did that 4 Xs (90-91, 91-92, 95-96 & 97-98).
There’s only one GOAT and it’s Mike. #Bulls pic.twitter.com/91WNhLZKc1
— ✶ Sports Mockery ✶ (@sportsmockery) December 11, 2021
MJ earned his first season MVP award in 1987-88 season. He averaged a staggering 35 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6 assists per game. In addition, he averaged a career-high 3.2 steals and 1.6 blocks per game, earning him his only DPOY award. Similarly, he won MVP awards in 1991, 1992, 1996, and the 1998 season.
MJ played basketball at an MVP level every season. He averaged 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists in his rookie season. In comparison, the late legend Kobe Bryant won his only MVP award in 2007-08 averaging 28.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 5.4 assists.
Despite the difference in the era, it is pretty impressive what Jordan was able to achieve as a rookie. He finished 6th in the MVP voting. This was the only time he finished outside the top 3 in the MVP race in his Bulls reign, barring the injury-ridden 1985-86 season.
Michael Jordan had MVP numbers in each of his 11 full seasons with the Chicago Bulls.
MJ’s 5 MVPs is the second-highest, behind only Kareem Abdul Jabbar with 6. However, Jordan did not need MVP validation to carry the ‘best player in the league tag’.
The defense in the era was far more physical than what we see today. Despite shenanigans like ‘Jordan Rules’ and every team focusing on stopping Jordan and Jordan alone, he had 8 seasons averaging 30+ points per game. He shot more than 50% in 6 seasons, missing out closely in 4 other seasons.
An average of 30 points at 50% efficiency in itself sounds like an MVP case. All of this without counting in his defensive presence on the court. Jordan averaged more than 2 steals per game 10 times in his career. He has 930 blocks in his career, which is the most by a guard in NBA history.
MJ should’ve had 9 MVPs. That’s the tweet. pic.twitter.com/5G5NVKuasu
— Marl Kalone (@KaloneMarl) December 18, 2021
Advanced statistics further back Jordan’s dominance. He finished the season in the top 2 in PER 11 times and in the top 2 in win shares 11 times as well. Despite retiring twice (both times at the tail end of a 3-peat), he played every single season at the highest level imaginable. Only if voter fatigue wasn’t real, Jordan would have more than five MVP awards under his belt.
