A recent celebratory effort of Kevin Garnett went wrong. Upon Nikola Jokić securing his third MVP award in 2024, the former NBA player wanted to express his sincere congratulations to him. However, an evident confusion between ‘The Joker’ and his fellow countryman, Nikola Jovic, made things difficult on KG’s end.
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The incident surrounded one of Garnett’s recent Instagram stories, applauding the monumental accomplishment of Jokic. Soon after the NBA announced the Denver Nuggets star as the 2023/24 season’s MVP, he wrote, “Congratulations To The Nikola Joker Jokic”.
In the process, KG aimed to tag Jokic’s profile in his story to increase the visibility of his praise. Here, things took a turn for the worst as the 2008 champion unintentionally tagged the profile of the Miami Heat youngster, Jovic.
KG shouts out the wrong Nikola for winning MVP pic.twitter.com/63cKv1kWek
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) May 9, 2024
Amidst the misunderstanding, Jovic is yet to respond to Garnett. Considering the seniority factor in their dynamics, the youngster may refrain from reacting to the mistake at all. At the same time, Garnett has not yet rectified his error. The 47-year-old is probably unaware of Jokic’s absence from the platform.
Despite the perplexity, KG’s gesture wonderfully captured his admiration for Jokic. He had been vocal about the Serbian’s influence throughout the campaign. Ahead of the playoffs, Garnett even took it up a notch, shedding light on the Nuggets star’s NBA legacy during an episode of KG Certified.
“I got Joker as the MVP…What he is doing to our league is just, he is ripping the records apart…They showed a stat where he had a triple-double on every team in the league. Right now, Joker is more dominant than Wilt Chamberlain,” he mentioned on that occasion.
🃏 x 👑
Big showdown in the City of Angels tonight‼️
Who are you riding with?
Presented by @BetMGM. pic.twitter.com/A7gayutsjv
— All the Smoke Productions (@allthesmokeprod) March 2, 2024
Thus, his recent comments served as an extension of his respect towards Jokic. KG’s postseason prediction came true, while the entire NBA took notice of the sustained dominance of The Joker.
Contrary to Kevin Garnett, not everyone agreed with the NBA’s decision
Soon after being announced as the regular season MVP, Jokic sat down with Inside the NBA crew for a discussion. During the interview, Shaquille O’Neal provided the Nuggets star with no time to celebrate. The Hall of Famer openly disregarded the achievement of the 29-year-old, stating the following:
“You know I love you. The best player in the league. But I want you to hear from me first. I thought that SGA [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander] should’ve been the MVP. That’s no disrespect to you. But, congratulations.”
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This statement raised eyebrows all around, questioning the intent of Shaq. However, it might well turn out to be the latter’s way of motivating the reigning MVP following his team’s two consecutive demoralizing defeats in the semi-finals. Consequently, the Nuggets star remained composed under the controversial remarks, exciting the fans about the prospects of the future.
