NBA Jam Power Rankings: Which Team Featured the Best Duo?

Hustle, Royalty and Respect

#5 Phoenix Suns
Charles Barkley: 14.8 nERD
Kevin Johnson: 2.9 nERD
Team Total: 17.7 nERD

#4 Houston Rockets
Hakeem Olajuwon: 20.7 nERD
Vernon Maxwell: -2.2 nERD
Team Total: 18.5 nERD

#3 Chicago Bulls
Horace Grant: 18.0 nERD
Scottie Pippen: 4.6 nERD
Team Total: 22.6 nERD

#2 Cleveland Cavaliers
Brad Daugherty: 15.5 nERD
Mark Price: 9.8 nERD
Team Total: 25.3 nERD

The Cavaliers are by far the most underappreciated team in the game. If you asked a hundred men born in the 1980s who the team they most frequently used in NBA Jam was, I would be shocked if even one of them answered with the Cavs. But the math tells a different story thanks in large part to Brad Daugherty.

Today, Daugherty analyzes NASCAR for a living, but back in the day, he was an absolute beast on the hardwood. During the 1992-93 season, Daugherty average 20.2 points with 10.2 boards and 4.4 assists while amassing a massive 125 offensive rating -- second best among all NBA Jam players -- and a whopping 15.2 nERD.

Similarly to the Cavs as a team, Horace Grant is probably the most overlooked player in the game. Grant probably wouldn't have even cracked the squad if Midway had the rights to Michael Jordan's likeness, but with His Airness excluded, Scottie Pippen took center stage for the Bulls with Grant flanking him. As good as Pippen was, Grant actually put together a much stronger 1992-93 campaign than his Bulls wing-mate. Grant led all NBA Jammers with a 132 offensive rating, and actually ranked second highest in efficiency according to numberFire metrics with a 4.9 efficiency rating as well. Additionally, only two players in the game posted a higher nERD during the 1992-93 season -- Hakeem Olajuwon, who you see above, and a postal worker who we'll discuss in more detail shortly.

One last thing I wanted to mention before we get to the number-one team in our power rankings is that many of you will be surprised to see Charles Barkley in this article at all due to the fact that he was phased out of the NBA Jam franchise following the release of his own game, "Charles Barkley Shut Up and Jam." However, Sir Charles was part of the original Jam rosters and can be used in early versions of the game in both Sega and Super Nintendo.