Top 10 Playoff Runs in NBA History: Where do Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Jokic rank? | Nerd Sesh

[@aaradill]

These guys always put in serious work/effort into their podcast. Bravo 👏

[@isaacmota2220]

Michael Jordan's 1991 run was from another dimension (PER: 32.0, ws/48:.333, BPM: 14.6). He had only 2 losses, but in his losses he averaged 41.0 PPG, capitalizing in the end by winning the championship against Magic.

[@makula5543]

Pippen was huge in the finals vs Magic and the lakers!

[@jacobgordon7998]

Pippen was huge during the entire Bulls' run. Thank God he had Jordan riding his ass and forcing him to be the best player he can be.

[@jayh4709]

@@jacobgordon7998 man at some point when do you guys stop giving jordan credit for scottie's success if anything jordan should scottie he didnt shit without him scottie worked hard and became great on his own did jordan help ofc he did but stop acting as if jordan was the sole reason scottie became a great player he was great before jordan

[@roberth7701]

Bronsexuals will always boost Scottie to demean Jordan

[@rickpowell1356]

First and only time in my life where I saw Magic have trouble. Not only consistently have a defender disrupting the Lakers offense, but Magic could barely get it past half-court 1/2 the time. And did it when the stakes were the highest.

[@MindfulAttraction2.0]

Honestly, I just wish during wilts time, specially during 67', that They recorded blocks and steals. Because his record would be even more ridiculous than it is now. That dude will be the all-time leader in quintipple doubles. There was one game that people actually recorded the blocks and steals, and this dude had 53 points, 35 rebounds, 13 assists, 13 blocks, and 12 steals. I mean not even little bron can do that against high schoolers

[@MindfulAttraction2.0]

​@@sabenneby the way, have you ever actually sat down and watched at least 3 full game of Chamberlain in his prime? .

[@MindfulAttraction2.0]

Honestly not including 67 wilt who averaged 22, 29 and 9 at 56 % percentage is Ludacris. He beat Russell's Celtics

[@michaellevitsky5616]

Loool bro that’s not how you spell ludicrous 😭😭

[@MindfulAttraction2.0]

@@michaellevitsky5616 that's how I spell it. Im a fan of the rapper lol

[@Emu1776]

2006 finals was highly suspicious

[@nocturnalron69]

They’re all great. It’s been fun watching everyone be the greatest of all time for about 7-10 years.

[@thefourthquarter7429]

The top playoff run I've seen didn’t result in a title - 2018 Lebron. Many more come to mind. I discount all runs that came from 2000-2006. Too much weird stuff. That's why I don't like the 2006 Dwayne Wade run. I do respect the Shaq run in 2002 where they were not challenged. Other great runs are 1991 Jordan, Jokic this year, 2003 Duncan, 94 Hakeem, 2022 Steph, 2021 Giannis. 1967 Chamberlain,1980 Kareem. Of course any 1992-1993 Jordan and any Lebron 2012-2020 run is up there.

[@zachyuncker833]

The only reason to leave out the 2018 LeBron run is that they didn't win the chip. Other than that it is without a doubt a top 10 playoff run all time imo

[@JoelBautista10]

Awesome lists for both, i love watching u guys keep it up ❤

[@dominickgalinis3210]

I can’t help but notice how like, half the criteria seems to fall away for MJ..

[@FlexasaurusRex999]

Am I the only one wondering if Logan is actually going to mouth “LETS GO” every video 😂 always gets my hyped tbh

[@erickcontreras6474]

The Lakers Rookie Magic run it´s something that never ever happen again.

[@RetroNBA42]

You should change this to the best title runs since 1990.

[@MindfulAttraction2.0]

Exactly. These guys literally didn't even include or even mentioned wilt who average 22, 29 and 9 at 55% figure percentage. Like come on

[@michaelfelix711]

@@MindfulAttraction2.0they did mention 67 Wilt you're just commenting without watching the vid 🥴

[@MindfulAttraction2.0]

@@michaelfelix711 when

[@MindfulAttraction2.0]

@@michaelfelix711 cus I watched it

[@MindfulAttraction2.0]

@@michaelfelix711 They even got it wrong. It's not 22, 22, and 9. It was 22 29 and nine. The issue is is that these guys don't take the time and actually watch a few complete games of the legends. Not highlights but complete games. They only watch before 85 or something?

[@haroldfloyd5518]

As usual, nothing pre-Jordan. No Kareem and the Bucks, no Walton and the Blazers, no Wilt and the Logo with the Lakers? Magic? Bird? Dr. J?

[@jfree672]

maybe that's just a maybe... they don't feel confident rating those at their age. we get a lot of jordan stuff even know but pre jordan most of the younger folks are out of their comfort zone. I rather have this than them pretending to know how good wilt and russell were

[@Jarel_317]

You can’t use team records as the barometer to demean one players playoff run and then exclude it for Jokic though. The Nuggets beat four teams with less than 45 wins. 3 of their 4 series wins were against play in participants.

[@MindfulAttraction2.0]

So y'all not even going to include Kareem in the 70s? It's only modern players?

[@johndarius18]

Wow, Gen z'ers who doesn't think basketball history started in 2010!

[@AzGod95]

Good watch lads 🤙

[@josephmatthews7698]

It's okay to leave Jokic off your list but it's not ok to downplay someone having this run on their list. How do you lead the ENTIRE playoffs in points, rebounds and assists? That's ludicrous.

[@lesbo37]

The Jokic defensive hate continues and I honestly don't get it. I expect better from the nerds who normally look past the stereotype of how a player should look and focus more on what they do. Was 2nd in the playoffs in Defensive win shares, 3rd in Defensive Box +/- and 7th in Defensive Rating (equal with 5th and Davis the only other top 9 guy who made it past the 2nd round). The guy ahead of him on those stats is Anthony Davis who had an all time defensive playoffs. The other names on those stats is pretty much the top defenders in the playoffs. Honestly, it just feels like because he doesn't get 3 blocks a game we ignore that he got a steal a game, was the best rebounder and was exceptional one on one defensively. He's not a rim protector but he's an elite defender by every other measurement. It's the same shitty narrative that was used to job him out of an MVP this year, that because he defends differently he's not as good as guys that he's statistically better than. The same stupid logic gets used on his offense as well, he's different, different doesn't mean bad or worse, it simply means different and in his case it's also better.

[@davidwright7922]

100% right, Nobody on Denver’s team has ever made an all star team, the T wolves had 4/5 starters who are/have been all star players, the suns and lakers both have a top 5 2 man duo in the nba who were also favorites by almost every media outlet to beat the nuggets, and heat also have multiple all star talent…the amount of disrespect this guy gets is beyond real…but let’s be honest it’s 100% due to skin color

[@davidwright7922]

It’s also the same in regards to most people not putting Larry Bird as an auto include in the top 5 conversation all time….tell me another player who came into the NBA on a 29 win team and immediately made them a 60 win team with basically the same shitty roster

[@jacobhughes9010]

2016 was the best run because to win the title it was much more difficult if a path in the fianls. (and Jordan wasn’t the primary defender in the finals either magic gave Jordan a triple double in game 1 and Scottie shut him down from there) and I believe both magic and worthy got hurt in the finals.

[@jacobhughes9010]

Check the box score, game 1 Jordan took magic and in a close game they lost. Also the way Jordan’s path got built up as being “impressive” beating a 39 win team in the first round lol

[@dimitrythomas4158]

Jordan defended Magic 90% of the finals. That’s a wise tale about Pippen. Also, Kyrie averaged 27ppg in that finals and outscored the unanimous MVP Steph.

[@stmaster21]

@@dimitrythomas4158 and pippen outscored every laker...

[@dimitrythomas4158]

@@stmaster21 Pippen scored 1 more ppg than Magic who was a facilitating gaurd ans Worthy who only averaged 20ppg during the season. Kyrie outscored a 30ppg MVP who was a shooter first.

[@dimitrythomas4158]

@@jacobhughes9010 Lebron beat one team with a winning record when he made his 1st finals but you’re complaining about the 1 seed Bulls playing a bad 8 seed

[@haydennyagah706]

2011 Dirk not being on here is straight criminal

[@Christopher._M]

To be fair his individual play wasn't consistently as great as some of the runs on this list or even some other runs that didn't make the list. What made that run special was his clutch play. He had like 2-4 games per series where in the last 1-3 minutes of play be just took over and made incredible shots. The most impressive ones were against the the lakers and OKC. He also had the big games at the right moments.

[@modgmodg6987]

Definite honorable mention tho.

[@sleyterdelacruz1965]

He doesn’t deserve it because his team actually did a lot more than virtually every mention here

[@keisn2446]

agree, completely disqualifying. The disrespect is real

[@keisn2446]

The opponents: TrailBlazers with Aldridge, Batum, Roy, Fernandez, Camby, Matthews, coming back from 0-2 Sweeping the 2time champion Lakers that had the same core Thunder (Ibaka, Harden, Westbrook, Durant) and the Heat (with all the narrative that is behind that) You virtually could see souls leaving human bodies on the court

[@g.bonaventura]

Without Dirk?! 😄

[@andrewlee-py9zm]

"so logan who do u have at number 10?" "i have dwayne wa-" "WOOOOOOWWWWWWWW 😐🙄😒 "

[@bookieallen7448]

Kyrie averaged 27 in the 2016 Finals also 41 in Game 5

[@stmaster21]

and pippen averaged 21ppg in the 1991 finals (more than any laker) with a game-high 32 in the closeout game 5

[@Anthonydu01630]

Murray was the first player to ever average over 30ppg on 50/40/90 in the WCF, and the only player ever to average over 20ppg and 10 assists per game in the Finals with Lebron, MJ and Magic. So Murray was just as good, if not better than Kyrie in this playoffs run, Jokic don’t beat the Lakers without Murray playing like prime Steph averaging 33ppg on more than 50/40/90 splits … Kyrie is just a bigger name, but i don’t give a damn about that and the numbers don’t lie, Murray was better than Kyrie imo.

[@tompratt7125]

Ranking Jokic's playoff run at #10 because he isn't a dominant defensive player will be the same logic used when his career finishes and people try to rank him on the all time player list. I have him right now at around #20 all time and I think if he has another 4 or 5 high level years and maybe another ring he'll be knocking on the top 10 door. The question is whether he can ever walk through that door. Probably not. That group is normally reserved for guys that did it at a high level on both ends of the floor.

[@Christopher._M]

He needs at least two more rings to touch that top 10. That or for the next 5 years he was two win at least two more MVP's and be the best player for 4/5 years. Even them it might not be enough but if he does both he will be in that conversation. The unfortunate part for him is he is playing in the era with the most player and coaching movement. In any era before 2015 his team would probably remain the same for many years and so would every other team in the league. I just don't see how he will win enough to make it to the top 10. Especially since he doesn't look like he is obsessed with basketball. The more you age the more time you need to spend on diet, recovery, and game taoe to compensate for less athleticism and Stamina. If he doesn't do that he can quickly be on the decline by 31.

[@RetroNBA42]

Why do people have the top 10 way higher than everyone else? Nikola Jokic is maybe in my top 50.

[@tompratt7125]

@@RetroNBA42 Are you kidding me? Do you understand what you're watching? Dude, I started watching the league in the late 60's so I've seen all the guys that these two didn't even include because they're both 15 years old. Jokic is by far the most skilled offensive big man ever. By far. By far. Not even close. I'd love to see Wilt handle the ball and direct an offense and knock down 3's at a 45% rate. Jesus, I'm sorry, but that's crazy. Please enlighten us with the 49 guys you think were better. Wow.

[@dominickgalinis3210]

He won’t get near top 10. Curry has hit his peak at around 12-13. Jokic isn’t better all time than Curry. There’s only 1 player top 10 all time who were great on defense, Magic. And Jokic isn’t Magic

[@schuylersavage276]

@@dominickgalinis3210 sounds like you have automatic rules instead of objectivity. Sort of like some giys for you are never allowed to be surpassed as if they have beocme mythical figures.

[@josephmatthews7698]

It's okay to give Nuggets credit for having a great supporting cast but it's weird using the supporting cast against Jokic. I can't think of any team leader with so many assists in a run. Jokic's whole shtick is making his team mates better and stepping up when it matters. I love Aaron Gordon but what was he doing before Denver? Now he's number 3 on a championship team. Remember when everyone tricked themselves into thinking Will Barton was a solid forward? Dude doesn't even look like he belongs in the league without Jokic. I'm not saying guys like Murray and MPJ would be trash without Jokic but I do think holding how good they are against Jokic is a little silly. Especially when it's his passing, screen assists, hockey assists and gravity majorly helping them look so dang good.

[@roselelouch3038]

I like y’all list by I feel like u both cut off anything pre 90s witch I understand if u believe the runs just don’t match up in the 70s or 80s but just listen to how many times u both name a stat and the only other player to have done said stat was Kareem basically I’m saying i really think Kareem ( the 3rd greatest player ever) should be on this list 😂

[@Brooklyn94269]

I personally think Lebron’s best and most consistent playoff run ending in a championship is the 4th with the lakers. That was his best playmaking season, his best shooting season , and although he wasn’t as good defensively as his Miami years, he did play all nba caliber defense on that year. Lakers were far more dominant and Lebron’s offensive and defensive playmaking is seen consistently throughout every round especially from the 2nd round through the finals. I get Anthony Davis was also right there with Lebron, but Lebron’s individual performance and being the offensive engine I feel this is easily his best overall championship playoff run

[@dimitrythomas4158]

Definitely not. AD was so dominat and the best player in most of the playoffs. Lebron just had a great finals against an overmatched team. Lebron also legit stat padded and came back in game 1 and 6 with the team up 20+ to raise his totals so he would get finals MVP

[@Brooklyn94269]

⁠@@dimitrythomas4158 Lebron was still the best player on the team. His playmaking is what separates him from AD throughout the playoffs. And he played great not only in the finals but throughout the playoffs. He never had a bad series. He Was the best player against the Nuggets as well . Again, AD was right there but Lebron edges him due to his great playmaking throughout that run

[@dimitrythomas4158]

@@Brooklyn94269 AD was the leading scorer at 27-10 with amazing efficiency,was by far their best defender, and hit the game winner vs Den that changes the series. AD and Lebron were 1 and 1A and it’s debatable on who was the best player which is why that’s not close to Lebron’s best run or one of the top playoff runs.

[@Kickz916]

These two guys make the WORST list so basically nobody had great playoff runs outside basically the same few players??? Smh

[@davidsasse40]

Do top 10 team playoff runs. Warriors were too balanced and too much team to make.this list although I appreciate Steph as an honorable mention

[@TinNguyen-y7w]

2019 kawhi didnt get an honorable mention? 2nd in career playoff points and elite 2way plays.

[@eciohc75]

2018 Lebron? 2011Dirk?

[@That1tree05]

2018 didn’t win, which is kinda a key part, I agree it’s the most impressive run I’ve seen though. And dirk didn’t dominant the whole run, and was partially reliant on horrible play by his opponents rather than him outplaying them at their best. The teams the mavs beat are impressive, with the laker series being mind blowing, but other than the lakers, none of those teams are at their best.

[@alainlamour5868]

Idk how you put jokers run here when he played 3 play in teams. That alone disqualifies him not bc he wasn’t great… but the body of work doesn’t outdo others who have done it against higher competition.

[@Nj-mt6bz]

Yeah but he was matched up against 3 of the best defensive bigs in the league ( bam, ad, and gobert) and still dominated. I think that’s impressive regardless of if they were play in teams. And the reason they played those teams is because they were actually better than the high seeded teams anyways.

[@alainlamour5868]

@@Nj-mt6bzsure… he gets credit for being dominant. But we’re talking top 10 all time. D Wade played the pistons that just beat Shaq and Kobe. Lebron played the warriors. Lebron played the spurs against a well oiled machine in a series riddled with hall of famers on both sides. It’s both dominant and high level of comp. It’s both… bc it’s the top 10 ever. Like… maybe jokic could have a top 10 performance. I do actually think he’s capable of having a run like that against other all time greats in their prime. But if you’re gonna anoint him in that list you gotta remove someone else who also did it but against stiffer comp. That’s not jokers fault but it is what it is.

[@dimitrythomas4158]

@@alainlamour5868 Lebron didn’t even have a great series by his standards vs Spurs and that Spurs team has an old Duncan and Manu and a young Kawhi that averaged like 10ppg that season. Wade was great in the finals also

[@yeetiesandwheaties]

Take a shot every time they say offensive engine and you'll die.

[@KnoxWheelerJr]

Age 24-28 Jokić has very similar postseason numbers to age 24-28 LeBron. Lowkey better, even with era & pace accounted for.

[@bayodaman]

You are smoking something I want to smoke 🤣🤣

[@KnoxWheelerJr]

@@bayodaman LeBron postseason numbers 2009-13 (age 24-28): 28.3 pts, 8.9 reb, & 6.4 ast on 49.3 fg%, 34.0 3p%, & 75.2 ft% over 92 games & 42.4 mpg, 2 rings Jokić career postseason numbers 2019-23 (age 24-28): 27.5 pts, 12.1 reb, & 7.3 ast on 52.8 fg%, 41.2 3p%, & 82.6 ft% over 68 games & 37.6 mpg, 1 ring

[@bayodaman]

@@KnoxWheelerJr These stats aren't better, Lebron didn't have to grab his own rebound from missing 5 times in a row just to get that many. Lebron was 5x the defender. He should have had a DPOY they cheated him twice because of a bunch of salty media members. Also he should have had another MVP you can thank the Media. We gotta stop trying to compare everyone to All Time greats. Congrats to Denver but Jokic is no Lebron.

[@KnoxWheelerJr]

@@bayodaman Jokić grabs more rebounds on the defensive glass alone than LeBron total, plus he shot >50% from the field, so he would necessarily still get more rebounds than LeBron if they had the same frequency of tip-ins. Also not really a knock on a player that nobody can stop him from rebounding his own miss. As for defense, Bron was definitely better but not by that great of a margin. LeBron's DBPM was 2.6 & DWS/48 was .080. Jokić had 2.4 & .051. Should be noted that defensive numbers are more favorable to the previous decade in the same way that offensive numbers are more favorable to the current era. I agree he definitely should've had a DPOY, but I disagree that we shouldn't compare a player to greats. Jokić has put himself in position to be compared to greats and he's gonna have to hold himself to that standard now.

[@p_double_double]

The recency bias in these takes are ridiculous…Jokic and the ‘Nugs had a great run, but let’s not go crazy elevating them over much greater teams in history.

[@dimitrythomas4158]

This is about Jokic’s run. He’s the first player to lead the playoffs in points, assists, and rebounds

[@davidwright7922]

Don’t forget win shares as well

[@folabomiamoo]

Steph Curry 2022.

[@bookieallen7448]

2009/2010 Kobe

[@christopherwilliams7494]

So no Steph of last year

[@Christopher._M]

It was great but the competition wasn't the best.

[@twown]

Not taking anything away from Hakeem, but he was never the "best offensive player alive" in 1995. Jordan was very much alive. And Jordan being away from the game slightly increases all the wins totals for the Rockets' opponents that year. Especially the Magic.

[@davis2k1234]

Kobe 09-10 cmon think 7 of the 8 teams he beat all had 50+wins while going 30 5 and 5 and beating 2 Finals teams w 3 all stars back to back only player ever do that with fringe all star in Gasol and role players

[@davidng8870]

Ridiculous to have Bron 2012 ahead of Hakeem 1994 imo. Bron 2012 shouldnt be here at all, it was a damn superteam whose crowning achievement was beating the baby Thunder. They would have been favourites in every game. How impressive is it to beat up on opponents you are better than? May as well have the Durant Warriors in here

[@tamasrab4441]

if 2018 Lebron is not No1 or 2 at worst, it's a weak list

[@p_double_double]

Y’all almost had it…’91 Jordan vs old, past their prime teams, vs LeBron vs 60-win Hawks, and the 73-9 Dubs, and he comes back from 3-1 to do it. GTFOH!!

[@dimitrythomas4158]

Lol, dude the Haws won 48 games that year. How you gonna give these guys sh%t when you can’t even check basketball reference. What a clown And Pistons were defending back to back champions that were in their 20’s. Get your information from someone other than Nick Wright.

[@markosimovic3708]

Lokk at this as team sport, lebron won 4 titles, 3 with widely best team in league and 4th bu luck...

[@ctoaun23]

The NBA started in 1991

[@RetroNBA42]

Dwayne Wade over Kawhi Leonard?

[@alainlamour5868]

Every time

[@Mektek19]

I’m sorry 2016 was not a great RUN. The path to the finals was pathetic. Only one series was memorable.

[@billrich5217]

Not one player pre 1992.

[@RGreene]

The 2006 NBA finals was RIGGED!!! Proven fact...smh

[@ibrahimosman4905]

Kawhi Leonard?

[@tarrellj6069]

Kobe disrespect again

[@FazeParticles]

Naturally

[@davesugamura9872]

What are your credentials nocred justtalkingheads

[@FelipePinheiro77]

Welp.. They're the ones talking sports on The Volume and you're the one hating, sooooo.... Also.. Ratio!

[@clipntn1092]

you ever heard of listening to another person perspective?

[@Rosecain27]

By that logic you need to have a mainstream sports talk show or YOU have no credentials to critique their credentials

[@tompratt7125]

These two know their hoops. Watch the pod 5 or 6 times and I think you'll agree.

[@modgmodg6987]

Haters welcome.

[@triggeredraptorsfan2881]

2019 kawhi and 2011 dirk being missed and not even honorable mentions makes this list absolutely ass