Where would 1998 Jordan Rank Today?

[Matt15]

Where would 1998 Jordan rank today among guards and overall?

[TheGOATRises007]

His RS was weak(for MJ standards), but he did step it up in the playoffs and was a 1 man offense with Pippen not having a great season and the offense being worse in general.

Would put him in the top 5. Tough to say clear cut best player.

[RCM88x]

His RS was weak(for MJ standards), but he did step it up in the playoffs and was a 1 man offense with Pippen not having a great season and the offense being worse in general.

Would put him in the top 5. Tough to say clear cut best player.

Yeah, I feel the same.

Would be interesting to see how a player like he was that season would translate to today.

[scrabbarista]

I voted best player (because I think that's actually the answer), but it wouldn't be a lock by any means. Top 5 would be a lock, though.

[Sublime187]

I would take Lebron, Curry, KD and Davis over him. So maybe top 5 or just out of it.

[No-more-rings]

Definitely top 10. Not sure i can go higher, these players i would decisively take over him if they finish the season reasonably healthy.

Lebron
Curry
Davis
Harden
Kawhi
Giannis
KD

Not necessarily in order. Jordan was only about 70% of his peak at that point, so it’s no knock on him.

[VoodooPriest]

INB4 JB's argument of winning MVP, FMVP and scoring title in the same year.

[Gooner]

Definitely top 10. Not sure i can go higher, these players i would decisively take over him if they finish the season reasonably healthy.

Lebron
Curry
Davis
Harden
Kawhi
Giannis
KD

Not necessarily in order. Jordan was only about 70% of his peak at that point, so it’s no knock on him.

Haha please.Jordan would easily be the best today,even at age 35.In this era when it's so easy to score,he would be unstoppable.Giannis over Jordan lol.You could have put Bismack Biyombo over him too.

[tondi123]

Depends. Could he make no effort whatsoever on defense and still be considered "the best"? If so, you can bet your ass that between the way the modern games played and expending no energy on defense he would be an offensive machine.

[No-more-rings]

Definitely top 10. Not sure i can go higher, these players i would decisively take over him if they finish the season reasonably healthy.

Lebron
Curry
Davis
Harden
Kawhi
Giannis
KD

Not necessarily in order. Jordan was only about 70% of his peak at that point, so it’s no knock on him.

Haha please.Jordan would easily be the best today,even at age 35.In this era when it's so easy to score,he would be unstoppable.Giannis over Jordan lol.You could have put Bismack Biyombo over him too.

So yeah i kind of expected some ridicule for this but i’ll stand by it. If you planted 98 MJ in today’s game, no he would likely not be top 5 and calling him easily the best is laughable.

Jordan by 98 was mostly a scorer that wasn’t very efficient, relied heavy on midrage and didn’t have close to the same motor as earlier on. He was still a positive on defense, but not elite and his offense wouldn’t be close to Lebron, Curry, Harden or Kd plain and simple on that. The other 3 names I mentioned would have a sizeable edge on defense.

Jordan’s is your goat and i get that, i even agree with it but i’m not gonna go overboard and act like Jordan has 10 seasons better than the top superstars of today.

[magicmerl]

Jordan by 98 was mostly a scorer that wasn’t very efficient, relied heavy on midrage and didn’t have close to the same motor as earlier on.

Jordan shot .545TS% in the playoffs that year, on 36.6% USG.

With the rules changes not letting you hand-check on the perimeter, and the swing away from defending or contesting midrange shots, I think it's pretty clear that he would be at least that good or better results in the modern era.

The league average TS% has risen by 3.3% between last season and 1998, so if you wanted to 'adjust for era' then Jordan would shoot something more like .588TS% in the modern era. Scoring about 44 pointer per 100 possessions.

I'd easily take him over Jame Harden for example, and I think the only players who you could argue might be better are LeBron, Durant, Curry and Kawhi.

[Sublime187]

Definitely top 10. Not sure i can go higher, these players i would decisively take over him if they finish the season reasonably healthy.

Lebron
Curry
Davis
Harden
Kawhi
Giannis
KD

Not necessarily in order. Jordan was only about 70% of his peak at that point, so it’s no knock on him.

Haha please.Jordan would easily be the best today,even at age 35.In this era when it's so easy to score,he would be unstoppable.Giannis over Jordan lol.You could have put Bismack Biyombo over him too.

Didn't expect any different lol.

[Funcrusher]

Definitely top 10. Not sure i can go higher, these players i would decisively take over him if they finish the season reasonably healthy.

Lebron
Curry
Davis
Harden
Kawhi
Giannis
KD

Not necessarily in order. Jordan was only about 70% of his peak at that point, so it’s no knock on him.

Haha please.Jordan would easily be the best today,even at age 35.In this era when it's so easy to score,he would be unstoppable.Giannis over Jordan lol.You could have put Bismack Biyombo over him too.

predictable

[No-more-rings]

Jordan by 98 was mostly a scorer that wasn’t very efficient, relied heavy on midrage and didn’t have close to the same motor as earlier on.

Jordan shot .545TS% in the playoffs that year, on 36.6% USG.

With the rules changes not letting you hand-check on the perimeter, and the swing away from defending or contesting midrange shots, I think it's pretty clear that he would be at least that good or better results in the modern era.

The league average TS% has risen by 3.3% between last season and 1998, so if you wanted to 'adjust for era' then Jordan would shoot something more like .588TS% in the modern era. Scoring about 44 pointer per 100 possessions.

I'd easily take him over Jame Harden for example, and I think the only players who you could argue might be better are LeBron, Durant, Curry and Kawhi.

I don’t really believe an older Mj approaches a 59 ts%, on that kind of volume without a 3 point shot in the modern era. I don’t necessarily think he’d be any worse, i just think the competition for top players then vs now ain’t the same.

Furthermore, you have to remember he may not be put in a great situation conducive to winning like the Bulls dynasty.

[Joao Saraiva]

Top 5 for me.

I think at least LeBron, Curry and Durant are better now than 98 MJ.

Not completely sure about AD and Giannis, but I'd lean towards MJ given his playoff performances. Let's see how well both these guys do in the playoffs, because I don't think the first 3 will disappoint.

[yongaz]

Top 5 without a doubt, top 3 in my books. Arguable for best player, but definitely not "easily".

INB4 JB's argument of winning MVP, FMVP and scoring title in the same year.

Pfft. He won without HCA as the man.

That is all.

[Pelly24]

Teams basically let you shoot midrange jumpers whenever you want these days, and even at 34-35, there's really no one who's keeping '98 MJ out of the paint. He'd be a top 3 player in the playoffs.

[JordansBulls]

INB4 JB's argument of winning MVP, FMVP and scoring title in the same year.

This!

[mysticOscar]

'98 MJ is becoming very underrated. More opportunities for him for drives today means he would be able to maintain an efficient scoring in the first half of the season when he was adjusting to his busted finger on his shooting hand.

Would be in the discussion for best player in the league and would probably lead the scoring while providing really good defense.

[Mazter]

We are talking about a 34/35 year old player who played almost 39 minutes, took 17.6 shots outside the RA at 41.8% and 5.6 shots inside the RA at 61.4%. He did that in a slow paced low movement era where a lot of 34+ years guys averaged 35+ minutes, where mid range was the game, and where efficiency was practically measured by FG% percentage.

In todays game Jordan would certainly not play 38.8 minutes, heck, even the younger guys barely crack 35. He would probably not shoot any better from midrange than he was already doing. And his coach or team tactics would probably not allow him to shoot 13.4 times from midrange at 43.2%. He would not drive more since he would be playing less minutes and wasting more energy doing everything else. And even if he did, driving more nowadays doesnt mean shooting and scoring more, defenses would collapse faster and easier and he would dish out more to the open teammates capable of burying 3's. Just like everyone else does.

At best I see him shooting relatively a bit more and maybe a bit more efficient in the RA, but a lot less with the same efficiency from anywhere else. Depending on how much effort he puts on defense I expect him to play 34 minutes, score about 20-22 points a game at decent efficiency, and maybe 5-6 assists per game. Which would make him...top 10 at best. Unless he would develop a decent 3 point shot and shoot more 3's, just like everyone else, I cant put him any higher.