Would Michael Jordan have been the GOAT as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers?
We all know how the story of Michael Jordan‘s career and how it panned out. Every single fan in the NBA would have wished their teams consisted of Jordan during the late 80s and 90s. Jordan made sure his presence on the court was felt night in and night out.
This is what made him so unique. He gave it his all in each and every game he played. However, how would Jordan’s career have looked if he fell to No. 5 in 1984 NBA Draft, and therefore ended up with the Philadelphia 76ers? He would have joined the likes of Maurice Cheeks, Julius Erving and Bobby Jones. Would he have won more rings? Would his legacy be tarnished as a result, or would it look even better? Would he have made the same impact on the Sixers as he did with the Bulls?
The following is a full career simulation of Michael Jordan’s career, had he joined the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1984 draft. The simulation was done via https://play.basketball-gm.com/
Rookie Season (1985): (48-34)
82 g, 38.3 min, 52.8% FG, 7.7 Rb, 6.1 Ast, 2.0 Stl, 1.9 Blk, 31.5 Pts
ROY, Scoring Leader, 1st Team, 1st All Defensive, All Rookie Team, All-Star
Lost in conference finals in 7 to Boston
40.2 min, 30.2 pts, 6.8 rbs, 5.7ast, 2.3 stl, 2.6 blk
Sophomore Season (1986): (34-48)
77 g, 38.2 min, 49.9% FG, 8.9 Rb, 4.2 Ast, 1.9 Stl, 1.9 Blk, 29.9 Pts
Scoring Leader, 1st Team, 3rd All Defensive, All-Star
Missed playoffs
3rd Season (1987): (50-32)
82 g, 41.0 min, 56.5% FG, 7.7 Rb, 3.3 Ast, 2.3 Stl, 2.0 Blk, 38.9 Pts
MVP, Scoring Leader, 1st Team, 1st All Defensive, All-Star, All-Star MVP
Lost 2nd round in 5 to Boston
43.2 min, 39.1 pts, 7.9 rbs, 3.8 ast, 3 stl, 4.4 blk
4th Season (1988): (53-29)
73 g, 40.9 min, 55.1 FG %, 6.6 Rb, 4.3 Ast, 2.7 Stl, 2.2 Blk, 40.5 Pts
MVP, Scoring Leader, Steals Leader, 1st Team, 1st All Defensive, All-Star, All-Star MVP
Lost 1st round in 4 to Milwaukee
46.4 min, 42.8 pts, 6.3 rbs, 4.5 ast, 3.5 stl, 4.5 blk
5th Season (1989): (39-43)
81 g, 39.9 min, 50.1 FG%, 7.4 Rb, 5.9 Ast, 2.4 Stl, 1 Blk, 33.8 Pts
Scoring Leader, Steals Leader, 1st Team, 1st All Defensive, All-Star
Lost 2nd round in 5 to Detroit
42 min, 38.6 pts, 7.6 rbs, 7 ast, 2.1 stl, 1.8 blk
6th Season (1990): (56-26)
75 g, 41 min, 49.9 FG%, 5.4 rbs, 8.8 ast, 2.4 stl, 0.6 blk, 36.6 pts
Championship, Finals MVP, Scoring Leader, Steals Leader, 1st Team, 1st All Defensive, All-Star, All-Star MVP
Won Championship against Phoenix
43.5 min, 39.1 pts, 5.6 rbs, 8.6 ast, 2.6 stl, 0.8 blk
7th Season (1991): (43-33
63 g, 39.9 min, 54.2 FG%, 5.2 rbs, 6.1 ast, 2.7 stl, 1.1 blk, 34.7 pts
Scoring Leader, 1st Team, 1st All Defensive, All-Star
Lost 2nd round in 6 to Chicago
43.1 min, 33.3 pts, 6.9 rbs, 6.1 ast, 1.8 stl, 1.9 blk
8th Season (1992): (63-19)
81 g, 37.4 min, 54.2 FG%, 4.5 rbs, 7.7 ast, 2.2 stl, 0.7 blk, 27.8 pts
MVP, Championship, Finals MVP, Scoring Leader, 1st Team, 1st All Defensive, All-Star
Won Championship against Golden State
41.9 min, 28.9 pts, 5.3 rbs, 7.9 ast, 2.6 stl, 1.3 blk
9th Season (1993): (54-28)
70 g, 39.0 min, 52.2 FG%, 4.2 rbs, 7.4 ast, 2.5 stl, 0.6 blk, 34.3 pts
Scoring Leader, Steals Leader, 1st Team, 2nd All Defensive, All Star
Lost Conference Finals in 4 to Detroit
42.0 min, 32.9 pts, 5.6 rbs, 7.3 ast, 2.0 stl, 0.3 blk
10th Season (1994): (48-34)
82 g, 41.7 min, 49.4 FG%, 4.6 rbs, 9.0 ast, 2.4 stl, 0.6 blk, 33.1 pts
Scoring Leader, Steals Leader, 1st Team, 3rd All Defensive, All-Star, All-Star MVP
Lost 2nd Round in 7 to Cleveland
44.4 min, 33.1 pts, 4.6 rbs, 9.1 ast, 2.6 stl, 1.1 blk
11th Season (1995): (27-55)
20 g, 40.6 min, 48.7 FG%, 7.8 rbs, 8.8 ast, 2.6 stl, 0.4 blk, 31.0 pts (TORN ACL)
All-Star
Missed Playoffs
12th Season (1996): (54-28)
82 g, 37.6 min, 50.8 FG%, 5.4 rbs, 5.4 ast, 2.3 stl, 0.2 blk, 29.2 pts
MVP, Scoring Leader, 1st Team, 2nd All Defensive, All-Star, All-Star MVP
Lost Conference Finals in 6 to Boston
42.1 min, 30.1 pts, 6.6 rbs, 6.5 ast, 1.7 stl, 0.6 blk
13th Season (1997): (51-31)
66 g, 36.6 min, 48.7 FG%, 5.2 rbs, 5.9 ast, 2.0 stl, 0.4 blk, 26.4 pts
MVP, Scoring Leader, 1st Team, All-Star, All-Star MVP
Lost 2nd Round in 4 to Cleveland
42.0 min, 25.3 pts, 5.1 rbs, 6.0 ast, 1.9 stl, 0.4 blk
14th Season (1998): (46-36)
82 g, 35.0 min, 46.3 FG%, 4.4 rbs, 2.9 ast, 1.6 stl, 0.3 blk, 22.8 pts
Scoring Leader, 2nd Team, All-Star
Lost 1st Round in 3 to Detroit
38.4 min, 19.7 pts, 3.7 rbs, 2.7 ast, 2.7 stl, 0.0 blk
15th Season (1999): (28-54)
82 g, 35.3 min, 46.1 FG%, 6.5 rbs, 3.1 ast, 1.4 stl, 0.2 blk, 22.0 pts
All-Star
Missed Playoffs
16th Season (2000): (45-37)
74 g, 32.7 min, 47.1 FG%, 5.0 rbs, 3.6 ast, 1.5 stl, 0.1 blk, 21.4 pts
3rd Team, All-Star
Lost 1st Round in 3 to New Jersey
36.9 min, 23.3 pts, 5.7 rbs, 3.7 ast, 1.3 stl, 0.3 blk
17th Season (2001): (48-34)
82 g, 30.3 min, 46.4 FG%, 4.4 rbs, 2.8 ast, 0.9 stl, 0.2 blk, 17.0 pts
Lost 1st Round in 3 to Detroit
35.7 min, 22.3 pts, 3.7 rbs, 2.7 ast, 1.3 stl, 0.3 blk
18th Season (2002): (38-44)
74 g, 27.1 min, 48.2 FG%, 3.9 rbs, 3.9 ast, 0.9 stl, 0.1 blk, 14.2 pts
Missed Playoffs
19th Season (2003): (53-29)
67 g, 26.0 min, 48.6 FG%, 3.2 rbs, 2.3 ast, 1.2 stl, 0.1 blk, 12.5 pts
Lost 1st Round in 7 to Orlando
21.6 min, 11.7 pts, 2.3 rbs, 2.7 ast, 1.7 stl, 0.0 blk
AWARDS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Retired and inducted in the HOF
- 5 x MVP (1987,1988,1992,1996,1997)
- 2 x Rings (1990,1992)
- 2 x Finals MVP (1990,1992)
- Rookie of The Year (1985)
- 14 x Scoring Leader (1985-1994, 1996-1999)
- 5 x Steals Leader (1988-1990, 1993, 1994)
- 12 x First Team All-NBA (1985-1994,1996,1997)
- 1 x Second Team All-NBA (1998)
- 1 x Third Team All-NBA (2000)
- 7 x First Team All-Defensive (1985, 1987-1992)
- 2 x Second Team All-Defensive (1993, 1996)
- 2 x Third Team All-Defensive (1986, 1994)
- 1 x All-Rookie Team (1985)
- 16 x All-Star (1985-2000)
- 6 x All-Star MVP (1987, 1988, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1997)
Notable Teammates Played With
- Maurice Cheeks, Julius Erving and Bobby Jones
- Dennis Rodman (drafted 1986)
- Horace Grant (free agent signing 1990)
- Kevin Garnett (drafted 1995)
Playoffs History
- 4 x Missed Playoffs (1986,1995,1999,2002)
- 5 x Knocked out 1st Round (1988,1998,2000,2001,2003)
- 5 x Knocked out 2nd Round (1987,1989,1991,1994,1997)
- 3 x Lost Conference Finals (1985,1993,1996)
- 2 x Champion (1990,1992)
Summary & Final Thoughts
By observation, it is clearly obvious that MJ’s legacy would not be as strong as it is right now if he had joined the Sixers. However, there are numerous factors which could have influenced this:
1. The simulation does not consider Michael Jordan’s killer mentality, one of the attributes that makes him so elite in real life.
2. For most of his career, he did not have a reliable No. 2 to depend on (like he had Scottie Pippen in Chicago).
3. A super team was formed in Los Angeles which consisted of Magic Johnson, Reggie Miller, Clyde Drexler and Scottie Pippen, which dominated the league for multiple seasons.
Michael Jordan has always been known for being one of the greatest scorers the basketball community has ever seen. This simulation proved to be no exception. Jordan scored 39,385 points, averaging 27 points in over 1,440 games (he didn’t retire multiple times during his career).
Another aspect of Michael Jordans’ game which was admired by many was his ability to hit clutch game-winning shots. Likewise, there was no exception to this as well in his tenure with the Sixers, as he hit 35 game winning or overtime-forcing shots, the majority of which came from beyond the arc.
However, when comparing the stats of Michael Jordans career with that of this simulation, it points to one major ‘what if?’. What if Michael Jordan never retired, and played his entire career with no ‘breaks’? What he could have further accomplished is truly astonishing, regardless of who he played for