Nikola Jokic made the headlines in a home win against the Golden State Warriors following his recent 26-point performance containing 18 free throws. Interestingly, only 24 hours after that, a clip capturing a contrasting opinion from Bam Adebayo surfaced on the internet. In the latest episode of The OGs, the Miami Heat star praised the Denver Nuggets talisman for not flopping just to get more foul calls, while speaking to Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller.
Advertisement
At first, the New Jersey-born identified Jokic as the toughest player to guard in the NBA, stating, “Gotta be the big fella. The Serbian”. Udonis jumped in the conversation soon after that with his remarks, “That s**t is unreal man,” to back his former teammate. The co-host further added, “He don’t jump. He don’t run fast. You can’t speed him up. You can’t move him,” highlighting the challenges.
Following that, Adebayo was full of praise for the international star, mentioning, “The thing that I am most like about him is like he don’t flop”. “Guys try to sell calls but other than that like he not trying to get 16-17 free throws. No he trying to get buckets,” the Heat center stated on the show.
The timing of the 2x All-Star’s comments made the dynamics interesting as Jokic had earned a total of 18 free throws just the night before. With 14 of them coming in the second half, his tally against the Warriors made up for his off night of 4/12 from the field. It resulted in the defending champions’ 22nd win of the regular season as the 2023 Finals MVP’s antics raised eyebrows.
Yet, it is tough to deny Adebayo’s comments considering how his last performance remains an outlier in his career. Predominantly, the Serbian registers a free throw made to points per game average of below 0.20, i.e., less than 20% of his NBA points come from free throws. Alongside that, his career free-throw attempts per game remain at only 4.6, despite a slight increase in recent campaigns. All these add volume to Bam’s statement about his rival, further displaying the prowess of Jokic on a basketball court.
Even if he may not have seen the numbers, the Heat star has clearly had some exhausting nights while trying to keep up with the big Serbian.
The praise for Nikola Jokic continues
Much like Bam Adebayo, Anthony Edwards also backed Nikola Jokic, even picking him as the best player in the league at the moment. During an interview with Complex’s Speedy Morman, the Minnesota Timberwolves star mentioned, “Jokić is first though. I gotta give Jokić his flowers… Just how he looked on that playoff run. He just dominated everybody,” the 22-year-old highlighted later on.
Edwards shed light on the Nuggets’ run to the championship last season while discussing Jokic’s impact. Understandable, considering that the 6ft 11″ star was immense in helping his franchise sweep the Los Angeles Lakers before defeating the Heat in the finals. The comments certainly put that influence of the 5x All-Star in focus as Anthony opened up about that run.
Just days after that, Paolo Banchero became the latest addition to that list as he shared his thoughts on The Stephen A. Smith Show. “I think he has just mastered that with his decision-making when to score when to pass,” the Orlando Magic star stated while discussing the reasons behind Jokic’s greatness.
Banchero and Edwards stand among the best young players in the NBA at the moment, while Bam has been doing it at the highest level for some time. With so many of his peers so sure of Nikola Jokic’s talent, the Nuggets are only going to have more targets on their backs. And yet, given the Joker’s prowess, the team likely has more than enough to take the entire league on with ease.
