Greg Ballard vs. Nikola Jokic Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nikola Jokic and Greg Ballard, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season

Who had the better rookie season? Who had best stats in their 10th season? Who won a championship first? These questions and many others, are answered here.

Greg Ballard played 11 years in the NBA, 2 more than Nikola Jokic, who played 9. Greg Ballard had the first of his seasons in 1977-78, while Nikola Jokic had his rookie season in 2015-16. With that starting point, here you can take a look at each of their seasons side by side and compare how their careers evolved in achivements, awards and championships won, the stats they recorded both in the Regular Season and the Playoffs and how their teams performed in the postseason.

Their Careers
Player	Total Seasons	Playoffs Played	NBA Years
Greg Ballard	11	7	1977-78 to 1988-89
Nikola Jokic	9	6	2015-16 to 2023-24

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11


Rookie Season
	Greg Ballard	Nikola Jokic
Season	1977-78	2015-16
Team	Washington Bullets	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	NBA Champion	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	76	12.3	4.9	1.3	2.2	3.5	0.8	0.4	0.2	0.8	1.2	1.9	4.4	.425	-	-	-	1.2	1.5	.772
Nikola Jokic	80	21.7	10.0	2.3	4.7	7.0	2.4	1.0	0.6	1.3	2.6	3.8	7.5	.512	0.4	1.1	.333	1.9	2.4	.811

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	19	12.8	3.9	1.4	2.7	4.2	0.9	0.5	0.2	0.7	1.5	1.1	3.3	.333	-	-	-	1.7	2.2	.780
Nikola Jokic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Greg Ballard	Nikola Jokic
Season	1978-79	2016-17
Team	Washington Bullets	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Bullets Lost NBA Finals	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	82	18.9	7.8	1.7	3.7	5.5	1.4	0.7	0.4	1.2	2.0	3.2	6.8	.465	-	-	-	1.5	2.1	.692
Nikola Jokic	73	27.9	16.7	2.9	6.9	9.8	4.9	0.8	0.8	2.3	2.9	6.8	11.7	.578	0.6	1.9	.324	2.6	3.1	.825

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	19	16.4	7.2	1.8	3.1	4.8	0.9	0.5	0.3	1.1	1.5	2.8	5.3	.525	-	-	-	1.6	2.2	.756
Nikola Jokic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Greg Ballard	Nikola Jokic
Season	1979-80	2017-18
Team	Washington Bullets	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Did Not Play

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	82	29.7	15.6	2.9	4.9	7.8	1.9	1.1	0.4	1.6	2.4	6.6	13.4	.495	0.2	0.6	.340	2.1	2.8	.753
Nikola Jokic	75	32.6	18.5	2.6	8.1	10.7	6.1	1.2	0.8	2.8	2.8	6.7	13.5	.499	1.5	3.7	.396	3.5	4.2	.850

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	2	36.5	11.0	1.0	6.0	7.0	3.5	0.5	0.5	4.0	4.0	4.5	14.0	.321	0.0	0.0	-	2.0	3.5	.571
Nikola Jokic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Greg Ballard	Nikola Jokic
Season	1980-81	2018-19
Team	Washington Bullets	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	82	31.8	15.5	2.0	5.0	7.1	2.4	1.4	0.5	1.4	2.4	6.7	14.5	.463	0.1	0.4	.219	2.0	2.4	.847
Nikola Jokic	80	31.3	20.1	2.9	8.0	10.8	7.3	1.4	0.7	3.1	2.9	7.7	15.1	.511	1.0	3.4	.307	3.6	4.4	.821

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nikola Jokic	14	39.8	25.1	3.9	9.1	13.0	8.4	1.1	0.9	2.6	3.9	9.4	18.6	.506	1.6	4.0	.393	4.7	5.6	.846


Season 5
	Greg Ballard	Nikola Jokic
Season	1981-82	2019-20
Team	Washington Bullets	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East Conf Semis	Nuggets Lost West Conf Finals

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	79	37.3	18.8	1.7	6.3	8.0	3.2	1.7	0.3	1.5	2.6	7.9	16.5	.475	0.1	0.3	.409	3.0	3.6	.830
Nikola Jokic	73	32.0	19.9	2.3	7.5	9.7	7.0	1.2	0.6	3.1	3.0	7.7	14.7	.528	1.1	3.5	.314	3.4	4.1	.817

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	7	38.3	13.3	3.1	5.9	9.0	3.1	2.0	0.4	1.7	2.9	5.1	14.3	.360	0.0	0.0	-	3.0	3.6	.840
Nikola Jokic	19	36.5	24.4	1.9	7.9	9.8	5.7	1.1	0.8	3.3	3.6	9.4	18.1	.519	2.2	5.2	.429	3.5	4.2	.835


Season 6
	Greg Ballard	Nikola Jokic
Season	1982-83	2020-21
Team	Washington Bullets	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Nuggets Lost West Conf Semis

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	78	36.4	18.0	1.6	4.9	6.5	3.4	1.7	0.3	2.0	2.3	7.7	16.3	.473	0.2	0.5	.351	2.3	3.0	.781
Nikola Jokic	72	34.6	26.4	2.8	8.0	10.8	8.3	1.3	0.7	3.1	2.7	10.2	18.0	.566	1.3	3.3	.388	4.8	5.5	.868

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nikola Jokic	10	34.5	29.8	3.7	7.9	11.6	5.0	0.6	0.9	2.4	2.3	11.6	22.8	.509	2.0	5.3	.377	4.6	5.5	.836


Season 7
	Greg Ballard	Nikola Jokic
Season	1983-84	2021-22
Team	Washington Bullets	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	Nuggets Lost West Conf 1st Rd

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	82	32.9	14.5	1.7	4.2	6.0	3.5	1.1	0.4	1.7	2.6	6.2	12.9	.481	0.0	0.2	.133	2.0	2.5	.798
Nikola Jokic	74	33.5	27.1	2.8	11.0	13.8	7.9	1.5	0.9	3.8	2.6	10.3	17.7	.583	1.3	3.9	.337	5.1	6.3	.810

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	4	42.0	16.5	1.8	4.3	6.0	3.5	1.8	0.8	2.0	3.0	6.8	14.8	.458	0.0	0.3	.000	3.0	3.3	.923
Nikola Jokic	5	34.2	31.0	3.4	9.8	13.2	5.8	1.6	1.0	4.8	4.0	12.2	21.2	.575	1.0	3.6	.278	5.6	6.6	.848


Season 8
	Greg Ballard	Nikola Jokic
Season	1984-85	2022-23
Team	Washington Bullets	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Bullets Lost East Conf 1st Rd	NBA Champion

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	82	32.5	13.1	1.8	4.6	6.5	2.5	1.2	0.4	1.3	2.7	5.7	11.9	.480	0.2	0.6	.304	1.5	1.8	.795
Nikola Jokic	69	33.7	24.5	2.4	9.4	11.8	9.8	1.3	0.7	3.6	2.5	9.4	14.8	.632	0.8	2.2	.383	4.9	6.0	.822

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	4	16.3	7.5	1.0	2.5	3.5	1.5	0.8	0.0	1.3	1.8	2.8	6.0	.458	0.0	0.5	.000	2.0	2.3	.889
Nikola Jokic	20	39.5	30.0	3.5	10.0	13.5	9.5	1.1	1.0	3.5	3.5	11.4	20.7	.548	1.8	3.8	.461	5.6	7.0	.799


Season 9
	Greg Ballard	Nikola Jokic
Season	1985-86	2023-24
Team	Golden State Warriors	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	Nuggets TBD

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	75	23.9	8.8	1.8	3.8	5.6	1.1	0.9	0.1	0.7	2.3	3.6	7.6	.477	0.2	0.5	.486	1.3	1.7	.802
Nikola Jokic	79	34.6	26.4	2.8	9.5	12.4	9.0	1.4	0.9	3.0	2.5	10.4	17.9	.583	1.1	2.9	.359	4.5	5.5	.817

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nikola Jokic	11	39.5	28.2	3.4	9.5	12.9	8.8	1.5	0.6	3.4	2.7	10.9	19.6	.556	1.1	3.9	.279	5.3	5.8	.906


Season 10
	Greg Ballard	Nikola Jokic
Season	1986-87	-
Team	Golden State Warriors	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Warriors Lost West Conf Semis	-

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Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	82	19.3	7.1	1.2	2.9	4.1	1.3	0.6	0.2	0.9	2.0	3.0	6.9	.440	0.2	0.5	.375	0.8	1.1	.747
Nikola Jokic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	10	17.9	5.9	1.8	2.2	4.0	1.9	0.8	0.0	0.9	1.6	2.6	4.8	.542	0.4	1.0	.400	0.3	0.4	.750
Nikola Jokic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Note: Greg Ballard didn't play in 1987-88.


Season 11
	Greg Ballard	Nikola Jokic
Season	1988-89	-
Team	Seattle Supersonics	-
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Did Not Play	-

more >>

Regular Season Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	2	7.5	3.0	1.0	2.5	3.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.5	0.5	4.0	.125	0.0	0.5	.000	2.0	2.0	1.000
Nikola Jokic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Playoffs Stats
	G	Min	Pts	ORb	DRb	Reb	Ast	Stl	Blk	TO	PF	FGM / A		%	3PM / A		%	FTM / A		%
Greg Ballard	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nikola Jokic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Greg Ballard vs. Nikola Jokic Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nikola Jokic and Greg Ballard, from their rookie seasons to their last year played, in chronological order with awards, stats, championships and playoff performance of their teams every year.

Their Careers

Comparison Season by Season

Rookie Season

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Season 6

Season 7

Season 8

Season 9

Season 10

Season 11