After the San Antonio Spurs’ 117-106 loss against the Denver Nuggets, Gregg Popovich showered Nikola Jokic with lofty praises. Talking to the reporters, Coach Pop disclosed how Victor Wembanyama would study the tapes of several past and present legends’ games during his film session, but none of Jokic. The simple reason behind the same, according to Popovich, is that no one can emulate what the Joker can do.
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“I don’t think anybody can do what Nikola does,” Pop said. “He’s a one-off, amazing, fantastic phenomenon.”
Gregg Popovich isn’t inaccurate. We haven’t seen a player quite like Nikola Jokic in all of the NBA’s history. Standing at 6ft 11”, without being athletic or fast, Jokic can dribble, shoot, pass, and rebound equally efficiently. The Serbian’s versatility has been a huge reason behind his success – 2 MVPs, 1 title, and 1 Finals MVP.
Popovich might just be undervaluing Wembanyama. The Frenchman has proved to be a versatile player similar to Jokic. While Wemby might not be as good a playmaker as the Nuggets big man, he makes up with his impressive defense – 3.4 blocks and 1.3 steals per game, as per NBA.com.
Of course, Popovich understands that it is too early to put Wembanyama in the same tier as the Joker. However, judging from what we’ve seen so far in his rookie campaign, it won’t take long before the 7ft 4” unicorn establishes himself as one of the best big men in the league.
Victor Wembanyama has been a huge Nikola Jokic fan
Victor Wembanyama is among many fans and fellow players to be left in awe of Nikola Jokic’s game. Even before playing a game in the NBA, during an appearance on JJ Redick’s The Old Man and the Three podcast, the French sensation spoke about being impressed with the Joker’s performance in the Denver Nuggets 2023 championship run.
“In the playoffs I really loved [watching] Jokic,” Wembanyama said. “He was the guy I watched the most.”
Earlier in November, following Wembanyama’s first matchup against Jokic, the Spurs rookie also revealed the learnings that he took from the duel. After recording a solid 22-point, 11-rebound double-double, Wemby lauded Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets for being a well-balanced team.
“I think I learned a lot. I will learn even more when I watch film of this. I think it’s an experience, but it would’ve been better if we had won,” Wembanyama said about playing against Jokic, as reported by Basket News.
“I can see why they won it. It’s a very balanced team, it feels like they know each other very well. It’s a great challenge,” Wembanyama said. “Every time we’re going to play them, it’s going to be great intensity. What’s beautiful about them is everyone knows their role. It’s a good team.”
With two more contests between the Spurs and the Nuggets remaining before the regular season concludes, it’ll be interesting to see if Wembanyama can finally outperform the reigning Finals MVP. While the Nuggets will be expected to win both ties, fans can certainly expect the duel between the two European superstars to be an entertaining battle.
