GOAT Stats: Where does Michael Jordan rank all-time in each category?
Michael Jordan is, without a doubt, one of the greatest to ever play in the NBA. His individual player stats rank among the most impressive of all time, and his perfect record in the NBA Finals helps to punctuate an unimpeachable resume.
From his days at UNC to his time in Chicago and even Washington, M.J. really earned the title of Greatest of All Time.
He has six championships and six NBA Finals MVP trophies to his name. He was also named All-NBA first team 10 times, All-Defensive first team nine times and was league MVP in five separate seasons. And let’s not forget, he spent two seasons away from the game at the height of his powers.
Jordan is in a league of his own. Year after year after year, he dominated the competition in the Association and has the numbers to back it up. Check out where MJ ranks statistically in NBA regular-season history.
Total Points Scored: 32,292 (5th)
For a guard to score this many points is extraordinary. In fact, Jordan averaged 30.1 points per game for his entire career. Doing that for 15 seasons is sure to put you in rarified air. That said, Jordan ranks only 96th in total games played in NBA history. (At the time of this writing, he’s about on par with Rudy Gay for total games played.)
In 1986-87, Jordan added a monstrous 37.1 points per game. And remember, this was a different era — he averaged just 0.8 3-point attempts. He was putting numbers the old-fashioned way. For seven straight seasons, M.J. averaged north of 30 points per game in the regular season. His Airness was an absolute force on offense.
Total Steals: 2,514 (3rd)
Jordan isn’t just one of the most potent scoring threats in modern NBA history, he’s also one of the league’s best defenders. He was the 1988 Defensive Player of the Year, using his unique speed, athleticism and legendary competitiveness to hound opposing players.
M.J. is even 123rd in blocks in NBA regular-season history. On either side of the ball, Jordan made things absolutely miserable. Scottie Pippen, meanwhile, is seventh in steals. Playing against the Bulls in the 90s was an absolute calamity if you didn’t have your act together.
Total Assists: 5,633 (47th)
Jordan isn’t always listed among the most pass-happy players in NBA history, but given how tremendously deadly he was scoring the ball, he was an underrated passer and play-maker. For his career, M.J. logged as many assists as celebrated point guards like Sam Cassell and Mike Bibby.
Jordan played a bunch of his career alongside players like Scottie Pippen and Steve Kerr. As such, if he found a teammate, there was a good chance the shot was going to go in. Given that Jordan faced more than his fair share of double-teams, there was often an open teammate to set up.
In 1988-89, Jordan averaged a career-best eight assists per game in the regular season. His 5.7 assists per game for his entire postseason career, meanwhile, helps underscore how well Jordan saw the court and orchestrated gameplay.
Total Rebounds: 6,672 (132nd)
Rebounding wasn’t Jordan’s bread and butter, but here’s another forum where he is probably a little underrated. Beyond his sophomore season, where he was sidelined by injury, M.J. averaged at least 5.2 rebounds per game in every season of his career. Yes, including his time with the Wizards.
Jordan is the franchise leader in rebounds for the Bulls. Considering he could dunk from the free-throw line, it’s not hard to imagine Jordan using his trademark athleticism on the glass.
Total Free Throws: 7,327 (6th)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James, Karl Malone, and Kobe Bryant are the only players in NBA history ahead of Jordan in total regular-season points scored. Unsurprisingly, these men are all among the leaders in total free throws made in a career as well.
In 1986-87, Jordan averaged 11.9 free throw attempts per game. For reference, James Harden peaked at 11.8 FTAs in 2019-20. Yes, the fouls back then were a little harder and the hand-checking made fighting to the point of getting a foul called was more physically demanding. But like any scoring titan, Jordan did a good chunk of his work at the free-throw line.
Total Triple-Doubles: 28 (19th)
A triple-double may or may not be a useful metric for assessing a player’s impact. Players like LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain each have dozens and dozens of triple-doubles to their name to go alongside their many titles, but by the same token, players like Russell Westbrook and Jason Kidd also dominate this category.
Jordan’s triple-doubles might actually come in surprisingly low. But that doesn’t mean M.J. wasn’t stuffing the stat sheet. In 1988-89, Jordan averaged 32.5 points, eight rebounds and eight assists a game, and in that postseason, he posted an otherworldly 34.8 points, 7.6 assists and seven rebounds.
1
1
