Nikola Jokic Will Be Ahead of Dirk Nowitzki, Charles Barkley!”: Fox Analyst Makes ‘BOLD’ Claim About Nuggets Star

Tonoy Sengupta | 01/06/2023
Nikola Jokic Will Be Ahead of Dirk Nowitzki, Charles Barkley!": Fox Analyst Makes 'BOLD' Claim About Nuggets Star

The Denver Nuggets have never been as close to an NBA championship as they have been in the Nikola Jokic era. Throughout this playoff run, the Joker and his team have comfortably put away any teams they came across. Really, their journey into the NBA Finals was akin to a 5-star cruise rather than a bumpy ride. And all throughout this run, Nikola Jokic has been so good that Fox Sports analyst Chris Broussard even decided to draw comparisons to Dirk Nowitzki and Charles Barkley.

It’s hard to believe that Nikola Jokic was once a highly underrated prospect, even only getting drafted in the mid-second round of the NBA draft. Worst part? The program didn’t even show him getting picked. It showed a Taco Bell advertisement instead. It wasn’t until Jokic made the NBA Finals that the league released the footage of him getting drafted. So, the fact that he is now being ranked alongside the very greats of the game is astounding. To go a step further even, as per Chris Broussard, if he wins a championship, he may even be better than them.

Nikola Jokic receives very high praise from analyst Chris Broussard ahead of NBA Finals

Nikola Jokic is getting a lot of love from Chris Broussard all of a sudden. Then again, perhaps that is how the NBA community, in general, has reacted to the 2x MVP.

During the latest episode of Fox’s ‘First Things First’, Chris Broussard brought up multiple NBA legends, such as Kevin Garnett, Dirk Nowitzki, Charles Barkley, and even Kevin Durant. And after comparing the Joker to all of them, Chris had no doubts about who is better. Look at the clip in the tweet by First Things First below.

“If Nikola Jokić wins this championship he’s ahead of Kevin Garnett, probably Charles Barkley. If he wins he’s better than Dirk Nowitzki. … When Jokić’s career is all said and done, he’ll be ahead of Kevin Durant.”

Admittedly, it’s hard to deny how bold Broussard’s statement is. However, how wrong is he really? Kevin Garnett was forced to go to the Celtics, where he wasn’t the inarguable best player. So, despite winning it all there, it’d be hard to put him over Nikola Jokic if he wins the NBA Finals.

Charles Barkley was unquestionably great, but there is no real argument to be had here. Jokic is clearly better than Barkley ever was during his career. And while he may not be as great as him yet, it only really seems like a matter of time. The only rings Kevin Durant has were with the Superteam Warriors. As much as we hate to say it, unless he can win a ring on a different team, it would be wildly difficult to put his legacy of Jokic’s.

Really, the only question mark here is the great Dirk Nowitzki. Not only did he win a championship, but he did it as the inarguable best player on his team. Further, he led his team to the championship against LeBron James and the superteam Heat.

Jokic may have to win two chips before he is considered higher all-time than the Mavericks legend.

Jokic doesn’t actually consider himself the best player on his team

Despite having won 2 back-to-back MVPs and getting the lion’s share of the praise from the NBA community, Nikola Jokic remains hesitant to claim the spot as the best player on the Denver Nuggets.

Why? Take a look at his response to this question in the clip in the tweet below.

For a long time, Stephen Curry was perhaps the only humble superstar in the NBA. But now, it appears that he has someone similar to him in Nikola Jokic. It’s hard to see the NBA community criticizing the Joker for that one.

Post Edited By: Raahib Singh
Charles Barkley Denver Nuggets Dirk Nowitzki Kevin Durant Kevin Garnett Miami Heat NBA NBA Finals Nikola Jokic

About the author

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta is a Senior Editor at The SportsRush. Coming from an athletically inclined family, he has been surrounded by sports ever since he was 4 years old. But, while initially pouring all his time into Football (soccer), at 14, Tonoy discovered basketball through the countless highlights of Stephen Curry humiliating players from Curry Land. And just like that, a fiery passion for the game was ignited within Tonoy. And soon after, he decided to become a student of journalism, graduating in 2022, and choosing sports as his area of interest. Today, you can find him spending 99% of his time browsing through every type of content on every team in the NBA, before uncorking everything he has found to the world. In the 1% he isn't doing this, you can find him playing Basketball, Football, Volleyball, or practically any other sport he has had the opportunity to learn.

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