“Skilled Big Beats Skilled Small Everytime”: Timberwolves Coach Believes Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid Prove the Era of Big Men is Back

Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch believes that the era of big men might be back in the NBA. Speaking on the Old Men and The Three podcast, Finch talked about the likes of Nikola Jokic, Karl Athony-Towns, and Joel Embiid. Referencing a quote by NBA legend Kevin McHale, Finch talked about how recent seasons suggest the era of big men might be back in the NBA.

Chris Finch has coached some talented big men in recent years. This includes the likes of Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns. While Towns is one of the most potent combinations of size and skills, Rudy Gobert is a 3-time Defensive Player of the Year who moved to the Timberwolves in 2022.

Minnesota Timberwolves coach believes the era of big men might be back

Finch talked about the success skilled big players have had in recent years. He talked about the likes of KAT, Jokic and Joel Embiid.

With a number of other big men like Giannis Antetokounmpo also cementing their legacy in recent years, there seems to be an element of truth to his claims. Finch talked about how McHale used to say that “big-skilled always beat out small-skilled players”:

“I feel like big is getting so much more skilled, right, like you have Jokic, you have KAT, Embiid. All these guys are so skilled like, Kevin McHale used to say, Skilled Big beats Small Skilled every time. Maybe there is a shift back, emphasizing skilled big, it doesn’t have to be just back to the basket post-up, but to me it feels like the league is just getting a little bigger, all around, even just wing sizes back to what they used to be before.”

Finch by no means meant that the level of skill in the NBA was reducing, or had reduced. On the other hand, he merely suggested that skilled bigger players will always have an advantage over smaller players, no matter the talent.

Nikola Jokic or Joel Embiid have won each of the NBA last 3 MVPs

There seems to be quite some truth in Finch’s claims. While Giannis Antetokounmpo won 2 straight MVPs in 2019 and 2020, the award has since gone to Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.

Jokic won back-to-back MVP titles and lost out to Joel Embiid the last time around. However, he added the NBA championship to his 2 MVPs last season as well.

With Victor Wembanyama also expected to be a combination of size and skill, the era of big men in the NBA might actually be back. The likes of Jokic and Embiid are expected to go on for a number of years to come.