Nikola Jokic just won the MVP award, and there’s no one that can doubt his prowess as a superstar. He even brought the Denver Nuggets to the second round of the playoffs, despite missing co-star Jamal Murray for a large portion of the season. Many players had cases for the MVP, but Nikola Jokic certainly deserved it.
A lot of good players know they’re good, and sometimes that results in trash talk. Nikola Jokic is no exception. When speaking on Altitude Radio 92.5 FM, Jamal Murray shared an instance of Nikola Jokic’s trash talk, which came against reigning Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert. Murray reveals that during this specific game, Rudy Gobert wanted to guard Nikola Jokic 1 on 1, and refused help defense from his teammates. Jokic then proceeded to roast Gobert by reminding the Jazz center that he had 47 points.
First few games of the season, Joker, he’s got 47 at this point against Gobert. It’s a close game too… They’re trying to send like half help…
Gobert goes “No, I got him, I got him, I got him!”
Jokic has the ball and he goes “Brother, I have 47.”
Guys like, their pride, they want to guard 1 on 1. But how much do you want him to score?
Due to Nikola Jokic’s passing ability, it’s harder to double team him, as he can generally find the right pass to an open teammate. But it’s also hard to guard him 1 on 1, as Rudy Gobert found out. Generally, a defense can slow superstars down but never fully stop them. The Utah Jazz are known to have a good defense, and yet Jokic still put up 47 points in that game. The trash talk from the Serbian superstar didn’t seem like it was out of line.
The sky is the limit for Nikola Jokic as he enters his prime, and former Nuggets coach George Karl has once called him “the modern era Tim Duncan”. While Nikola Jokic isn’t as accomplished as the legendary power forward, he certainly has lots of talent. Hopefully, we see Nikola Jokic find championship success in the future, and there is definitely a possibility that he achieves it with the Denver Nuggets.
