Nikola Jokic has been doing things for years now that we’ve just never seen another center do before. Amazingly, he seems to be getting even better. Consider that right now he’s averaging 29.6 points, 12.8 rebounds and 11.1 assists per game, all top-six marks in the league. He’s actually No. 1 in assists, as a center, while also shooting over 43% from 3-point range and over 70% from inside the arc! That’s ridiculous.
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Jokic has three MVPs, and there’s a good argument to be had that he should have won last year over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and in 2023 over Joel Embiid. NBA fans know how the narrative works though, and voters tend to reward players who haven’t been recognized before to break up the monotony of the same guy repeatedly winning.
The Nuggets big man has already put himself in the most elite company historically, but to truly stamp himself as the greatest center of all-time, Reggie Miller believes he still has some work to do.
Miller was on The Dan Patrick Show yesterday, and he said that the only thing Jokic is missing that guys like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Shaquille O’Neal have is multiple championships. Jokic of course won his only one in 2023.
“Only thing missing from his resume is chips,” Miller said. “He’s done everything personally, he’s got all the MVPs. He has all the numbers and will have all the numbers to back him. The only thing that will solidify him amongst the greats is championships.”
Kareem won six titles in his career. Shaq won four. Even Hakeem Olajuwon won two, so Jokic isn’t there yet. Working against him though is that today’s NBA is more competitive than ever before. Early in his career, the Golden State Warriors lorded over the Western Conference, and now the Oklahoma City Thunder look like a budding dynasty.
Because of that, Miller doesn’t feel like Jokic needs to match Kareem’s six rings or even Shaq’s four to reach and surpass them historically. Patrick said that he thinks the Joker needs to get three. “If you give him three, and he might end up with five MVPs. So three titles and five MVPs,” he said.
That would be enough for Miller. “You can make a case,” he said, “for him to be the greatest center of all time if he gets three rings. If he wins three rings, he’s the greatest center of all time. In today’s climate, yes.”
Jokic’s sheer numbers are overwhelming, and that’s really saying something when it’s true even compared to Kareem and Shaq. Both of those players were supremely dominant in their own way, but Jokic has evolved the position to another level. His feathery touch is right there with Kareem, and he can physically dominate down low, maybe not exactly in the way Shaq did, but still extremely effectively.
He’s also become one of the best outside shooters in the NBA and the league’s most visionary passer. The Nuggets direct their entire offense through him, and to watch it is to watch poetry in motion. He’s the conductor of the orchestra and the most nimble dancer on stage.
Once you reach a certain point, it’s almost impossible to declare that any one of these legends is definitively better than the other, especially because they played in wildly different eras and tailored their games to what was effective at the time. The fact that Jokic is already in the conversation with one title is remarkable enough. If he does win another one or two, there’s really not an argument against him being at the very least, right on par with these guys.
