Nikola Jokic is making a serious case to win his third consecutive MVP award. However, there are narratives around him out there as people criticize him for not having won much in the playoffs yet.
Kendrick Perkins opened up a whole can of worms when he accused Nikola Jokic of padding his stats during games. Many hit back at him for that take, and Bill Simmons used a clip from the Nuggets‘ win against the Grizzlies to hit out at the narrative.
Shameless stat-padding by Jokic for his 10th assist tonight — look at him grab a board, push the pace and find a wide-open Porter for the dagger 3, can’t believe he gets away with this shit. pic.twitter.com/OsUhnegfSu
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) March 4, 2023
“Shameless stat-padding by Jokic for his 10th assist tonight, Bill Simmons wrote. “Look at him grab a board, push the pace, and find a wide-open Porter for the dagger 3, can’t believe he gets away with this shit.”
Nikola Jokic has another triple-double against the second-best team in the Western Conference and was instrumental in helping the Nuggets win comfortably against them. As the play Simmons highlighted shows, Jokic tends to get his numbers in the natural flow of the game, which explains why his team is 25-0 when he gets a triple-double this season.
The back and forth on this topic has dominated NBA conversation in recent weeks, and even Nikola Jokic joked about it after he got his 100th career triple-double recently. While the conversation swirls around him, he continues to hoop efficiently and is currently the main frontrunner in the race for the MVP award. It’s a stretch to call him a stat-padder as Simmons himself has before.
Bill Simmons Called Nikola Jokic The ‘Least Stat-Paddy Guy’ In The NBA
Nikola Jokic is a unique superstar in that he doesn’t constantly look to score. He took just 10 shots against the Grizzlies, for example, and was still the key to his team winning. And after the initial comments in the media that suggested that Jokic is a stat-padder, Bill Simmons compared his game to that of Tim Duncan and Steve Nash.
“Just FYI — Jokic is the least stat-paddy guy since Duncan and Nash. I genuinely think he has no idea what his game stats are as the game is going on (and doesn’t care),” Simmons wrote.
While these conversations continue to take place, Jokic himself is likely unbothered. His goal remains to win a championship, and the Denver Nuggets are set up nicely to do that, boasting the 2nd best record in the entire NBA. As long as they can make a deep playoff run, the criticism of Nikola Jokic will drop sharply.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
