Michael Jordan was a scoring machine unlike any other in the history of the NBA and he piled up mind-boggling scoring numbers that can only be bettered by one Wilt Chamberlain. Still, Jordan (30.12) managed to eke ahead of Wilt (30.07) for the highest career scoring average in league history, and where his greatness shines even more, is the playoffs.
Jordan averaged a ridiculous 33.4 points per game in his postseason career and no other player in history (min 50 playoff games) has posted a scoring average over 30. Luka Doncic is the closest if we remove that criterion, but he is still almost one full point behind MJ. Such was Jordan’s scoring dominance in the postseason, that he averaged over 30 points per game in 12 straight postseasons after failing to do so in his rookie season of 1984-85. Even in that instance, he only narrowly missed out and a look at his averages by postseason shows just how great he was.
Michael Jordan’s Playoff Scoring Average by Season
1984-85 NBA Playoffs: 29.3 PPG
1985-86 NBA Playoffs: 43.7 PPG
1986-87 NBA Playoffs: 35.7 PPG
1987-88 NBA Playoffs: 36.3 PPG
1988-89 NBA Playoffs: 34.8 PPG
1989-90 NBA Playoffs: 36.7 PPG
1990-91 NBA Playoffs: 31.1 PPG
1991-92 NBA Playoffs: 34.5 PPG
1992-93 NBA Playoffs: 35.1 PPG
1994-95 NBA Playoffs: 31.5 PPG
1995-96 NBA Playoffs: 30.7 PPG
1996-97 NBA Playoffs: 31.1 PPG
1997-98 NBA Playoffs: 32.4 PPG
That kind of consistency is just otherworldly and it becomes even more impressive when given some context. You need to add up LeBron James (6), Kevin Durant (3), and Shaquille O’Neal’s (3) number of postseasons where they averaged over 30 points per game just to tie MJ, which is just ridiculous considering all the success they have had.
It is no surprise that with these kinds of displays in the postseason; he became the first player to win 3 straight Finals MVPs and he is the only one to have accomplished that feat twice. The more you look up regarding Jordan’s career, the more you end up being amazed at just how great he was.
