Before his warriors defeated the Denver Nuggets on Friday night, Golden State coach Steve Kerr, accelerated Nikola Jokic quite a bit, calling the MVP three times the best center he has seen personally. That includes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, whom Kerr played briefly in 1988.
“It is unfair to compare times,” Kerr began“but [Jokic] It is the best center I’ve seen. I played against Kareem. Kareem couldn’t do all this. And again, the epochs dictate much of that. So we are in the modern era and we are seeing a boy [in Jokic] Who is doing things that nobody has done before?
“It goes far beyond the level of skill with Jokic,” Kerr continued. “It is competitiveness. It is intelligence. It is absolutely one of the smartest players in history. And you see it in many different ways.”
This will surely attract a hatred of the old heads, but let’s be honest about these things. Saying a player as good as Jokic is the best big man you have seen is not a blow to Kareem, Hakeem or Shaq or any other person, and more than someone who says LeBron is the best player they have seen is a blow to Michael Jordan, Vice Versa, or that Stephen Curry is better than Magic Johnson or Vice Versa.
Giannis Antetokounmpo diverts the praise of LeBron James from how he would play in the 1970s: “I don’t like to compare times”
Austin Nivison
These are players of all time. Preferences will vary and times, to Kerr’s point, are a factor in anything subjective. But the general point here is that Jokic is a player of all time. We are beyond him being the best current player in the world. This is a guy who, after only 10 seasons, already has a legitimate case as a player of the 10 best of all time, and is far from having finished. I could end in the goat conversation, depending on how long I play. It’s so great.
Like everyone else, I have an opinion, and he is the best pin I’ve seen. It is not the best pin for big men; The best pin period. Hunt the assists like a great scorer hunt shots. He sees them, or feels them, before they materialize. The defenses are helpless. Team teammates are in the sky.
Like Prime LeBron, Jokic could score 35-40 points per night if he wanted to. It is a type of score score and remains a scorer of all time from anywhere on the floor. Wizard feet game. Skillful touch and creativity. A methodical, almost indifferent rhythm that makes you ask you if you are even trying. The greater the athlete, the easier they will make it look. Jokic is a great athlete. Save all your talk about traditional things such as running and jumping as the only definition of athletic greatness. Its natural coordination is a superpower.
Is it better than Kareem? I don’t know. He was too young to see Kareem play, certainly at his best. But Kerr is not crazy to say this. You can disagree, but it is an honest conversation. Jokic is more than deserving of such respect, and again, he is far from finishing.
