With two MVPs and an NBA Championship under his belt, Nikola Jokic is already one of the greatest big men in league history.

Big men have always been an imperative part of any competitive NBA team, even as the league has shifted more toward perimeter-oriented offenses in recent years. While there was a short period during the 2010s when dominant centers were few and far between, the meteoric rises of Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokić, specifically, have shone a new light on the importance of having a center worth building around.

While Embiid has mostly matched – or even exceeded at times during last year’s MVP campaign, Jokic’s regular season output, the Denver Nuggets superstar has put together a list of accolades that already stack up with NBA history’s greatest centers to command the paint.

Even established media members have taken notice of how Jokic compares to the dominant big men that came before him, with Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo even going as far as putting the two-time MVP over Shaquille O’Neal, who has an MVP and four NBA championships of his own.

“Jokic might be, might be, at the end of the day, the greatest center in the history of the NBA… He’s that good. He’s better than Shaq, I’ll tell you that right now. Better than Shaq.”-Chris Russo

At only 29 years old and pushing for yet another MVP and his second championship, Jokic has undoubtedly already settled in among Hall-of-Famers, including O’Neal, Hakeem Olajuwon, Wilt Chamberlain, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, among other legends.

While the question of how long Jokic will continue his storied career is up in the air as he nears 30. The Serbian-born center could retire today and still boast accolades that surpass his fellow big men – all of whom competed deep into their 30s.

Even if he plays until he’s 35, Jokic may put together a resume that pushes him into the greatest of all-time conversation for big men and any player who has stepped on an NBA court.

Nearly all of the NBA’s greatest big men were highly touted and obvious high picks. Hall-of-Famers such as Bill Walton, Olajuwon, Bob Lanier, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, O’Neal, and Dwight Howard, among others, were centers selected first overall and projected to dominate the paint for their entire careers.

For so many of the league’s best big men, high expectations are set long before they ever enter the NBA, but for Jokic, there weren’t too many expectations at all.

Notably selected 41st overall in 2014 during a Taco Bell commercial, Jokic’s rise to stardom has come as even more of a surprise than fellow European phenom Giannis Antetokounmpo, another unknown commodity before he was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2013.

Antetokounmpo, at least, was a raw and extremely lanky athlete with a clear path to stardom. Jokic, meanwhile, dominated opponents with a fundamentally sound and low-to-the-ground offensive repertoire even before he slimmed down in recent years, making him even more of an anomaly.

Jokic, currently boasting the best Player Efficiency Rating in NBA history despite being the center of one of the league’s most heliocentric offenses, already gives him a solid argument as the most skilled offensive center in league history. This would be quite a feat considering Abdul-Jabbar held the NBA’s all-time scoring record for over three decades before LeBron Jamessurpassed him last year.

Nikola Jokić Career vs. NBA Legends

Category
Jokic
O’Neal
Olajuwon
Chamberlain
Abdul-Jabbar

Championships
1
4
2
2
6

MVPs
2
1
1
4
6

PER
28.03
26.43
23.59
26.16
24.58

Win Shares
108.5
181.7
162.8
247.3
273.4

Despite not always being a positive on the defensive end, Jokic’s otherworldly offensive game – including incredibly soft touch around the rim and the best playmaking chops the league has seen from a 7-footer – puts him ahead of some names who contributed more on defense.

Now a six-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA member in his age-29 season, Nikola Jokić has undoubtedly put together a legendary individual resume that already gives him an argument as a top-eight center of all time.

While the Nuggets have been a consistent playoff threat for a few years now, Jokic will have a hard time moving further up the list before adding another championship to his resume. With another title under his belt as one of the league’s best talents, it would be extremely difficult to keep “The Joker” outside the top five, if not higher.