Who was more impressive in the finals? Giannis or Jokic

[Godymas]

Giannis and Jokic are the great players of the current era of basketball and truthfully, they need to be compared much more often as time goes on. Additionally, it would be a dream to see them face off in an NBA finals.

There are interesting parallels between the two of them. Both are "unique, generational" players with skillsets far from any player that ever played the game.

Both came from Europe to the NBA and have been the faces of the recent rise of European stars in the NBA.

Both were not viewed as top prospects in their draft. Giannis was a project player that went in the middle of the first round right outside the lottery. Jokic is infamously the greatest 2nd round pick of all time. Giannis was a project that had to grow to become who he is today. Jokic came out of nowhere and took the league over.

Both are All NBA 1st team locks for any season of their prime, both are regularly top 3 in the MVP in voting for any season for their prime. They both play in smaller markets, lesser known teams, and prove that you can win in the NBA with traditional roster construction and drafting.

They each have 1 finals appearance and both of them were monstrous, but ultimately in the NBA we have to compare as is the case with all sports.

I am going with Giannis in the finals over Jokic. The offense was disgusting, 35 ppg for a 6 game series which was capped with an amazing 50 point finish where Giannis basically forced himself to deliver a perfect game where he made every single FT despite being a bad shooter.

Also the 2021 Suns were no joke, that was a good team. The depth was real. The coaching was very good even if Monty fell off in Detroit. You had size, shooting, playmaking, athletic scoring, everything.

The 2023 Heat on the other hand had just trudged through the East with an intense 7 game series vs. Boston. They were also an 8 seed that heavily overperformed that playoffs. By the time they made the finals, it never really felt like they were ever truly in it. Also Giannis and the Bucks went down 0-2 in that finals. Giannis came back to win 4 in a row to take the championship which meant 3 road game victories. The Heat took one game from Denver in Denver and then Denver cleaned house in Miami and finished them off at home. It was not nearly as much pressure imo as a team that goes down 0-2 at home in the Finals.

So I think Giannis overall has a much more impressive finals run and FMVP even if Jokic's is a bit a more meaningful because he got Denver their first franchise ring.

[Mavrelous]

Giannis had a more epic Finals series, both amazing stats and some historic plays, Jokic had a more impressive full PO run IMO.
In all time ranking, I have Jokic ahead of Giannis comfortably and as overall better player.

[EmpireFalls]

Giannis had a better finals bc he actually hit free throws and because he played a much better team

2023 Heat were one of the worst finalists of the past 40 years.

[shanedude]

Jokic got to beat up an undersized, depleted, injured Heat. It's easily Giannis.

[MrPainfulTruth]

Giannis simply had a lot more help. Jokic did a carry job of almost Nowitzkish dimensions.

[Rendei]

Jokic had the more impressive playoff run, but Giannis had the more impressive finals. Giannis put up a legendary performance in that series. The block on Ayton will live on forever.

[Hornet Mania]

Giannis was more impressive to me, partly because he came back from an injury I had assumed would end his playoff run. It was amazing to see him gut it out and dominate.

[JayMKE]

Remember Giannis inverted his knee like a week before, he had one of the most epic series of all time the way he stepped up. Remember his block on Ayton? 50 points and like 17-19 from FT line in deciding game? He also had 14 rebounds and 5 blocks that game. Giannis legitimately had one of the greatest finals performances of all time

[cupcakesnake]

Jokic got to beat up an undersized, depleted, injured Heat. It's easily Giannis.

Eh, destroying Deandre Ayton and Jae Crowder (backed up by Frank Kaminsky and Torrey Craig) isn't a more impressive accomplishment than a frontcourt with Bam in it.

Neither finals opponent was well equipped to deal with either of these guys.

[indiegrind]

Giannis was more impressive to me, partly because he came back from an injury I had assumed would end his playoff run. It was amazing to see him gut it out and dominate.

Exactly. His leg bent the wrong way. It looked like a season ender. Will forever respect Giannis for this.

[Yoshun]

I went with Giannis, but that Heat team is being a little underrated here. They got through the Bucks and Celtics (1 and 2 respectively) and beat a pretty good Knicks team.

[JayMKE]

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Jokic is great but I can seldom remember anything about that run other than Miami/Jimmy running out of steam

[Homer38]

Giannis simply had a lot more help. Jokic did a carry job of almost Nowitzkish dimensions.

Murray was great in that playoffs run in 2023.....Look at how the players perform,not just at the names of the players and the number of all-star games who is just a popularity contest...

[Godymas]

Giannis simply had a lot more help. Jokic did a carry job of almost Nowitzkish dimensions.

Murray was great in that playoffs run in 2023.....Look at how the players perform,not just at the names of the players and the number of all-star games who is just a popularity contest...

yup was gonna say, Murray was no joke the entire playoffs and even had some games where he was on pace with Jokic

[Godymas]

Jokic got to beat up an undersized, depleted, injured Heat. It's easily Giannis.

Eh, destroying Deandre Ayton and Jae Crowder (backed up by Frank Kaminsky and Torrey Craig) isn't a more impressive accomplishment than a frontcourt with Bam in it.

Neither finals opponent was well equipped to deal with either of these guys.

you’re underrating how good Ayton was in those playoffs. He was legitimately playing for a max. He also had a great series vs. Jokic that year. Bam is 6’9 and heavily undersized. He’s great defensively, but he’s going to run into issues against the bigger Jokic. Imo beating Bam who was depleted and whose backup was Cody Zeller is less impressive. Ayton sucks today but in that finals run he was very good.

[EmpireFalls]

Giannis simply had a lot more help. Jokic did a carry job of almost Nowitzkish dimensions.

Murray was great in that playoffs run in 2023.....Look at how the players perform,not just at the names of the players and the number of all-star games who is just a popularity contest...

Murray averaged something like 35 on elite efficiency vs the Lakers and averaged 26-5-7 on 60 TS% for the entire playoffs. He also carried bench units and provided pretty good playmaking.

For reference - Steph Curry in 2022 averaged 27-6-5 on only slightly better efficiency. Counting stats wise, 2023 Murray matched 2022 Curry… as a second option.

There’s a lot to criticize Murray for now, but in 2023, he was an absolute goddamn killer.

[Homer38]

Giannis simply had a lot more help. Jokic did a carry job of almost Nowitzkish dimensions.

Murray was great in that playoffs run in 2023.....Look at how the players perform,not just at the names of the players and the number of all-star games who is just a popularity contest...

Murray averaged something like 35 on elite efficiency vs the Lakers and averaged 26-5-7 on 60 TS% for the entire playoffs. He also carried bench units and provided pretty good playmaking.

For reference - Steph Curry in 2022 averaged 27-6-5 on only slightly better efficiency. Counting stats wise, 2023 Murray matched 2022 Curry… as a second option.

There’s a lot to criticize Murray for now, but in 2023, he was an absolute goddamn killer.

Murray was making so many tough and clutch shot on high effiency too!

[UglyBugBall]

Giannis. He beat much better competition and in a more dominant fashion. Both of these guys have too often dropped off in the playoffs, but to their credit, both of them showed out in the their finals appearance. However, Giannis did it against a great team, while Jokic did it against a weak one.

[cupcakesnake]

Hard to compare. Both were so impressive.
Giannis as an unstoppable raw force of athleticism, and Jokic as a guy with total mastery over every possession of the game.

I think I slightly lean Giannis here? The block on Ayton sits heavy in my mind as I think about how thoroughly Giannis physically dominated the Suns on both ends. bballreg's "game score" stat gives a slight box score edge to Giannis (31.9 vs. 27.7). On/off likes Jokic so there's a statistical case to make for him. Giannis has that huge advantage in terms of getting to the line, and he actually knocked down just enough in that series. Jokic shot 58/42/83 which is pretty insane.

[Texas Chuck]

No reason to have to choose. Giannis is always going to look more impressive because he is dominating with a physicality we haven't seen since Shaq only coming downhill at you constantly and being a defensive menace.

Jokic is playing at his pace and picking you apart with his brain and his absurd size/skill combination.

And picking apart competition/trashing teammates is always a terrible way to decide comparisons but it helps one craft the narrative one wants. But neither guy has control over his teammates or his competition so I like to focus on the players themselves. Or maybe its just KG/Duncan PTSD lol.