Steve Hayes vs. Nikola Jokic Season by Season Comparison

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

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.

Steve Hayes played 5 years in the NBA, 4 less than Nikola Jokic, who played 9. Steve Hayes had the first of his seasons in 1981-82, 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.

Comparison Season by Season
Jump to season: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9
Rookie Season
	Steve Hayes	Nikola Jokic
Season	1981-82	2015-16
Team	San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-Rookie First Team
Playoffs	Did Not Play	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		%
Steve Hayes	35	13.9	4.0	1.1	2.2	3.3	0.8	0.1	0.6	0.5	2.0	1.5	3.2	.486	0.0	0.0	-	0.9	1.5	.604
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		%
Steve Hayes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nikola Jokic	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Season 4
	Steve Hayes	Nikola Jokic
Season	1984-85	2018-19
Team	Philadelphia 76ers	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	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		%
Steve Hayes	11	9.2	2.0	1.0	2.1	3.1	0.1	0.1	0.4	0.2	1.7	0.9	1.6	.556	0.0	0.0	-	0.2	0.4	.500
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		%
Steve Hayes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Steve Hayes	Nikola Jokic
Season	1985-86	2019-20
Team	Utah Jazz	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	Jazz Lost West Conf 1st Rd	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		%
Steve Hayes	58	6.8	1.5	0.6	0.8	1.3	0.1	0.1	0.3	0.3	1.4	0.7	1.5	.448	0.0	0.0	-	0.2	0.6	.306
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		%
Steve Hayes	1	1.0	2.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.000	0.0	0.0	-	0.0	0.0	-
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
	Steve Hayes	Nikola Jokic
Season	-	2020-21
Team	-	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	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		%
Steve Hayes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Steve Hayes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Steve Hayes	Nikola Jokic
Season	-	2021-22
Team	-	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	All-NBA First Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	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		%
Steve Hayes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Steve Hayes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Steve Hayes	Nikola Jokic
Season	-	2022-23
Team	-	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Finals MVP
	-	All-NBA Second Team
	-	All-Star Game
Playoffs	-	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		%
Steve Hayes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Steve Hayes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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
	Steve Hayes	Nikola Jokic
Season	-	2023-24
Team	-	Denver Nuggets
Honors & Awards	-	Season MVP
	-	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		%
Steve Hayes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
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		%
Steve Hayes	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Nikola Jokic	8	40.0	26.6	3.8	11.1	14.9	9.4	1.5	0.6	3.8	2.9	10.1	18.6	.544	1.1	3.9	.290	5.3	5.6	.933