Only LeBron James has more playoff wins than Nikola Jokic without All-Star help

In light of how much flak three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic has caught of late after his Denver Nuggets were embarrassingly ousted in the first round by a very undermanned Minnesota Timberwolves team, we decided to take a look through the annals of NBA history to figure out who has done the most with the least amount of help in the NBA playoffs of yesteryear. And what we found out was surprising. We learned that in NBA playoff history, only four-time NBA champion LeBron James has won more playoff games without All-Star help than Jokic, and he only accomplished that because of his 200 extra playoff appearances.

It would not be surprising at all to see Jokic earn this record outright before it's all said and done. Jokic has won 51 playoff games in his career without an All-Star teammate. James?

66. And Jokic's number would be a bit higher had Jamal Murray not made an All-Star team for the first time in his career this season. What's more, unless we consider Murray a lock to become a perennial All-Star, then there's a very good chance Jokic surpasses James in this metric sooner rather than later, as he's got so much of his prime left to go.

James racked up a ton of playoff wins without an All-Star teammate in 2016 when he won 16 postseason games - and a championship - without an All-Star teammate, but it was more of a technicality. We say that because Irving and Love, both multi-time All-Stars by 2016, weren't All-Stars in 2016 itself, which gave James a ton of extra wins for this exercise, fair or not. Irving and Love were All-Star-level players who simply weren't All-Stars that season for different circumstances.