Peak Bill Walton vs Peak Nikola Jokic

[TT8198]

I'm positive this has been done before but ur wouldn't hurt to revisit it 2 MVP's later for Jokic. Who was better at their peak and in perfect health of course

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[AdagioPace]

lovely comparison. Both really special and unique players within their time and in general.

judging by the peaks project they both appear to be just outside the big-man Pantheon, which means both lack that "quid"(something), respectively durability, scoring-punch(not really a weakness imo) and defense.
You said perfect health but we have to compare real seasons (assuming 1976-77).

Jokic has already shown to be able to sustain his offense for 90+ games, but dunno, Walton's rebounding and defense, and the ability to really play like a lesser Proto-Jokic makes this comparison really complicated.

One should really analyze with granularity the teammates they've played with and the competition, but I don't have the knowledge. Paging 70sFan

[Doctor MJ]

This is something very much on my mind in the Peaks project so it makes sense for me to say a bit here.

Similar players of a rare type.

Both have ultra-fast brains, but I'd give Jokic the nod for being faster.
Both are creative players, but I'd give Jokic the nod for being more creative.
Both have some shooting capacity outside of the interior, but I'd give Jokic the nod here too.

But as much as Jokic has improved his body for defense, Walton's the better defender. Taller & longer while also quicker.

The question then is which advantages are more significant, as well as whether era changes things. I think it's clear that the offensive capacity for both players would improve in the modern game while their defensive capacity would decrease. This might mean that Walton had the edge in his era while Jokic would have the edge today, but it's not so clear cut.

As much as Jokic has made strides in his defensive game, we saw pretty clearly that playoff offense could still exploit him. The question then is whether Walton would merely handle this a bit better, or whether he could effectively prevent the exploitation. A sizeable enough difference here would make Walton likely scale better to modern championship teams than Jokic.

Curious to see others thoughts here.

[wojoaderge]

Walton's defense is way, way better than Jokic's. OP did not mention portability

[countryboy667]

Defensively and with quickest move to the basket, it's Walton. Not sure how Walton would do in the three ball era. Rebounding? when Walton wanted the ball, he was damned well going to get it. Had a special fierceness on the boards. Don't know about comparing smarts, but Walton was one VERY smart ballplayer.

[Dooley]

Jokic is quite a bit better offensively, and not just because of era differences. Better shooting touch and better passing - I see it as, Walton is a great passer for a big man; Jokic is a great passer for any position. I think those are significant advantages for Jokic.

OTOH Walton is obviously better defensively, and I think this would likewise be true regardless of era. He's just on a completely different level as a rim protector.

For me I go with Jokic overall as I think his offensive game is really special and he can do enough on defense. It's a good comparison though.