Nathaniel Clifton vs. Nikola Jokic Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nikola Jokic and Nathaniel Clifton, 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.

Nathaniel Clifton played 8 years in the NBA, 1 less than Nikola Jokic, who played 9. Nathaniel Clifton had the first of his seasons in 1950-51, 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
Nathaniel Clifton	8	6	1950-51 to 1957-58
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


Rookie Season
	Nathaniel Clifton	Nikola Jokic
Season	1950-51	2015-16
Team	New York Knicks	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Knicks 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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	65	-	8.6	-	-	7.6	2.5	-	-	-	4.1	3.2	10.1	.322	-	-	-	2.2	4.0	.532
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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	14	-	7.1	-	-	9.8	3.3	-	-	-	4.4	2.9	8.4	.347	-	-	-	1.3	3.3	.391
Nikola Jokic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 2
	Nathaniel Clifton	Nikola Jokic
Season	1951-52	2016-17
Team	New York Knicks	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Knicks 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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	62	33.9	10.6	-	-	11.8	3.4	-	-	-	3.7	3.9	11.8	.335	-	-	-	2.7	4.1	.664
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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	14	33.0	9.4	-	-	9.5	2.4	-	-	-	4.8	2.8	9.5	.293	-	-	-	3.9	5.4	.711
Nikola Jokic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 3
	Nathaniel Clifton	Nikola Jokic
Season	1952-53	2017-18
Team	New York Knicks	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards
Playoffs	Knicks 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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	70	35.7	10.6	-	-	10.9	3.3	-	-	-	3.9	3.9	11.3	.343	-	-	-	2.9	4.9	.583
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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	11	36.8	12.0	-	-	12.7	3.5	-	-	-	4.4	4.6	11.7	.395	-	-	-	2.7	4.3	.638
Nikola Jokic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-


Season 4
	Nathaniel Clifton	Nikola Jokic
Season	1953-54	2018-19
Team	New York Knicks	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA First Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost E Div Round Robin	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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	72	30.3	9.6	-	-	7.3	2.4	-	-	-	3.0	3.6	9.7	.368	-	-	-	2.4	3.8	.628
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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	4	31.3	6.3	-	-	9.8	1.5	-	-	-	3.8	2.0	6.8	.296	-	-	-	2.3	4.3	.529
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
	Nathaniel Clifton	Nikola Jokic
Season	1954-55	2019-20
Team	New York Knicks	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Knicks Lost East Div 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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	72	33.2	13.1	-	-	8.5	2.8	-	-	-	3.1	5.0	12.9	.386	-	-	-	3.1	4.6	.683
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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	3	36.7	19.7	-	-	7.7	4.3	-	-	-	4.0	6.7	17.3	.385	-	-	-	6.3	8.0	.792
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
	Nathaniel Clifton	Nikola Jokic
Season	1955-56	2020-21
Team	New York Knicks	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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	64	24.0	8.8	-	-	6.0	2.4	-	-	-	3.0	3.3	8.5	.394	-	-	-	2.1	3.0	.707
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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Nathaniel Clifton	Nikola Jokic
Season	1956-57	2021-22
Team	New York Knicks	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	All-Star Game	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	71	31.4	10.7	-	-	7.8	2.3	-	-	-	3.4	4.3	11.5	.377	-	-	-	2.1	3.1	.673
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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Nathaniel Clifton	Nikola Jokic
Season	1957-58	2022-23
Team	Detroit Pistons	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Pistons Lost West Div Finals	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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	68	21.1	7.7	-	-	5.9	1.1	-	-	-	3.0	3.2	8.8	.363	-	-	-	1.3	2.1	.623
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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	7	10.6	4.0	-	-	3.3	0.6	-	-	-	1.6	1.6	4.3	.367	-	-	-	0.9	1.1	.750
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
	Nathaniel Clifton	Nikola Jokic
Season	-	2023-24
Team	-	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
Honors & Awards	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Nathaniel Clifton	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nikola Jokic	10	40.0	28.8	3.2	10.1	13.3	9.5	1.7	0.7	3.4	2.9	11.1	19.7	.563	1.2	3.9	.308	5.4	6.0	.900

Nathaniel Clifton vs. Nikola Jokic Season by Season Comparison

Side by side comparison of each NBA season of Nikola Jokic and Nathaniel Clifton, 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