The Los Angeles Lakers will be upset going back to their hotels in Denver after dropping Game 1 after a scintillating second-half comeback.
Game 1 was a six-point loss for the Lakers and saw Nikola Jokic dominate, with the Lakers not being able to stop him for most of the game. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope compared Jokic to LeBron James and said the only difference is that LeBron jumps higher.
“I feel like the only difference is that Bron can jump higher than Jokic, that’s the only difference I can see. I just love playing with Jokic man. A willing passer and a dominant big man down there, just seeing him do what he do and get everybody going as well.”
"I feel like the only difference is that Bron can jump higher than Jokic."
KCP talks about the similarities of playing with LeBron James and Nikola Jokic 🔊#NBAConferenceFinals presented by @GooglePixel_US pic.twitter.com/C1kXxfvQQA
— NBA (@NBA) May 17, 2023
KCP was teammates with LeBron during his Lakers’ stint, winning a championship in 2020. They beat the Nikola Jokic-led Nuggets in the 2020 Western Conference Finals, making this rematch very intriguing. Pope was traded away in the ill-fated Russell Westbrook trade, essentially ruining a season and a half of Lakers basketball.
Has LeBron James Finally Met His Match?
Regardless of how old LeBron gets, the one thing that almost no player in the NBA will have over him is court awareness and IQ. James is one of the smartest basketball players we have ever seen. Despite the similar talents players like Luka Doncic, Chris Paul, James Harden, and others have shown, nobody compares to James’ ability to use his intelligence and create winning plays and moments for his squad.
Nikola Jokic may genuinely be the first player that can impact the game with his IQ at the same level as LeBron. KCP isn’t wrong in saying what he did in terms of how they approach the game and can dominate it even without being active on possessions. Teams in the past have been caught out by James telegraphing their plays and using his intelligence to ruin possessions but Denver will have Jokic doing the same to LA in what will be a terrific chess match of a series.
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