Nikola Jokic

[Straight forward]

He is without a doubt the most versatile, offensively talented center of all time. Nevertheless I like Hakeem more.

Good point. Hakeem was better defender! Much better. But Jokic seems to be the best offensive center ever.

[Toruko]

Good point. Hakeem was better defender! Much better. But Jokic seems to be the best offensive center ever.

Well thats what I said in general. There are things some centers can do better than Jokic. Jokics low post game is superb but Hakeem was better for example. Letting the defense aside there is nothing Jokic cant do on the offensive end. There will be never such a team carrying center like Jokic.

[Straight forward]

Jokic is totally insane breed of a basketball player. He's averaging 30ppg triple double in West semis.

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1656885434050281472https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1656885434050281472

He may not only be the most gifted center of all time offensively, he may be the best offensive player of all time. In my opinion only prime Magic Johnson, Larry Bird had pretty close impact as Jokic is having offensively and off course Lebron James. Pieces like Jordan, Kobe, KD, Curry didn't have no facilitation game of Jokic, Lebron. They were limited to ISO scoring mainly.

On other hand I can't judge Oscar Robertson. He was averaging 30ppg and 10apg for 5 years.

I feel like Lebron, Jokic, Bird, Magic, Robertson may be the best offensive players of all time. They were great scorers and great facilitators at the same time. Very rare combination.

I believe young Arvydas Sabonis under proper development (working ethics, proper diet, USA BB school) could became such breed too.

[usagre]

Great post Straight Forward. I completely agree.

Nikola Jokic is currently the best player in the world and it’s not even close. His offensive game is obviously impeccable but I think he has learned to use his big body on the defensive end and not foul and now is not a liability on that end at all.

[Serbian_Layup]

The shot which basically ended 25 years long Spurs, Lakers and Warriors' domination in the West.

https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1660845035854905351

[usagre]

Wow it’s fun reading posts here about Jokic from 6 and 7 years ago and seeing that a lot of us were on the right side. Personally the first time Nikola and his potential caught my eye was in the 2016 Olympics as a 21 year old in the preliminary round tight game loss vs the US he took over and dominated the fourth quarter.
He was unstoppable late and finally was only slowed down by being forced into a tough shot by probably the best post defender at the time Draymond Green in the final minute.

if he never played another game his place among the all time greats to ever play is secure. His resume is that good. How high he eventually will climb will most likely depend on his next 3-4 years. Ages 28-31 historically have been prime time years for the greats.

[Obina]

Scoring
Jokic - 30.0 PPG
Kevin Durant - 28.5 PPG (2017)

Passing
Jokic - 9.5 APG
Magic Johnson - 9.4 APG (1980)

Rebounding
Jokic - 13.5 RPG
Tim Duncan - 11.5 RPG (1999)

3-point shooting
Jokic - 46.1%
Steph Curry - 39.7% (2022)

Defense (Opp FG% when he contested)
Jokic - 39.8%
Giannis - 39.7% (2021)

[Serbian_Layup]

https://twitter.com/ClutchPointsApp/status/1668788518158577667

https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/status/1668975387638988801

[Serbian_Layup]

I'm still mesmerized by those numbers throughout entire playoffs. I mean 30/13.5/9.5 on ridiculous efficiency has to be the single greatest individual performance in NBA playoffs history. What makes it so special is that it resulted in wining the title.

[Serbian_Layup]

Wow it’s fun reading posts here about Jokic from 6 and 7 years ago and seeing that a lot of us were on the right side. Personally the first time Nikola and his potential caught my eye was in the 2016 Olympics as a 21 year old in the preliminary round tight game loss vs the US he took over and dominated the fourth quarter.
He was unstoppable late and finally was only slowed down by being forced into a tough shot by probably the best post defender at the time Draymond Green in the final minute.

if he never played another game his place among the all time greats to ever play is secure. His resume is that good. How high he eventually will climb will most likely depend on his next 3-4 years. Ages 28-31 historically have been prime time years for the greats.

Agree, Jokić's timeline is great. He is 28, I think MJ, Lebron, Curry won their first title at that age. This was the first time Nuggets were healthy in 3 years and went on to dominate playoffs with 16-4 record. If they stay heatlhy and keep making good decisions with their roster there is no reason to think they won't be back in the finals. It's going to be a nightmare for West contenders to find a way to limit Jokić. Some teams will probably load the frontourt with strong and big centers only to spend 15-20 fouls on Jokić to try to wear him out. Everything else is just useless.

A big man dominated NBA basketball in the era of hottest shooters and small ball lineups that is totally perimeter oriented. People were saying it's impossible to build around centers in this era of basketball, and that may be true but Jokić is not just a traditional center. With that kind of skill set he is just killing small ball so I guess big and physical centers will be in demand if not for anything else then only to get extremely physical with Jokić. There is just no other way to deal with Jokić in his prime years.

[Serbian_Layup]

Basketball community in Serbia and fan base are on the verge of mental breakdown expecting Jokić's decision regarding his participation at the World Cup. LOL

But I get it, it's extremely rare to have privilege to watch such player in your NT. As far as I'm concerned it's good whatever he decides, he's already done enough for our basketball. Hopefully, we get to see Jokić and quite possibly the best 1-2 punch in entire competition with Jokić and Bogdanović.

[Serbian_Layup]

https://twitter.com/Eurohoopsnet/status/1731605265030451469

I thought this was only possible in a video game

[Serbian_Layup]

Third MVP award coming for Jokic. He already made incredible legacy in NBA. We will see if he can do something great with NT. Wolves would do us a favor if they knock out the Nuggets in this round

[Straight forward]

Congrats to Jokic. He's already a walking legend. Snatching three MVPs is nasty.

[Serbian_Layup]

To be honest, I don't think it would have been undeserving if they gave it to SGA. Jokic got robbed last year, so it probably affected their voting this year.

Next year, it's between SGA, Doncic, Edwards and Brunson.