Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic rivalry is the next big thing in the NBA and the Nuggets star is already halfway up in the race.
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Agree to it or not Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are the two best players in the NBA for the last few years. While the 27-year-old Greek international has already established himself as one of the greatest ever, The Joker is on his way there.
The reigning 2x MVP has yet to lead the Nuggets to an NBA or even the Conference Finals whereas the Bucks star has led his team to a championship in 2021.
However, the Serbian big man has been the NBA’s Most Valuable Player for the last two seasons snatching the award from Antetokounmpo who was the MVP for two straight seasons before him.
But that’s not the only success the near 7-foot playmaking giant has had over the 6ft 11” sheer muscle of dominance.
Nikola Jokic has an 8-4 record against Giannis Antetokounmpo which turned to nine with Serbia’s win over Greece
Not just their heights and age, the European giants have had a similar start to their careers. Jokic after coming into the league 2-years later has appeared in same number of All-Star (4) and All-NBA team’s (4), and the same amount of MVPs as Giannis seven years in.
But there’s already one area in which Jokic has bettered Antetokounmpo and it is as important as it gets – winning a game. The Nuggets MVP has an 8-4 record against the Bucks MVP.
That is tremendous because the Bucks and its 6x All-Star have losing records only against top teams and NBA’s all-time greats and that too because they lost a lot of games until 2018 when Giannis was still 23 and was just about to burst as a superstar.
On Thursday, The Joker did it again and led his team to another victory against Greece in FIBA World Cup qualifiers, that too in a must-win game. Although Giannis had a monstrous game Jokic had the last laugh.
This rivalry, in front of our eyes, is building up to be one of the greatest ones in the history of the game.
