Nikola Jokic is having another outstanding season for the Denver Nuggets and his head coach Michael Malone has some big praise for his Serbian superstar.
Malone, on a recent appearance on SiriusXM Radio, stated that he sees a lot of similarities between Jokic and a certain LeBron James.
“I make this comparison a lot and people think I’m crazy when I do,” Malone said. “I was an assistant coach in Cleveland around LeBron for 5 years. I’ve been with Nikola Jokic for 8 years now, they are so similar in terms of their IQ, reading things (and) seeing things before they happen. Their ability to make everyone around them better. Yes, it’s this great athlete and a non-athlete but everything else is eerily similar to me in how their approach is and their IQ, and their ability to just read and see the game.”
"They are so similar in terms of their IQ"
Michael Malone sees a lot of similarities between LeBron James and Nikola Jokic.@TheFrankIsola l @SamMitchellNBA pic.twitter.com/AJd1qJumu9
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) February 25, 2023
It isn’t a crazy comparison by any means. Sure, they are poles apart when it comes to athleticism but there are a lot of similarities in their games other than that. Both of them read the game exceptionally well and their high basketball IQ means they tend to be a step ahead of the defense at all times. Malone isn’t the first to compare them either, as Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said Jokic reminds him of LeBron at the center position.
Nikola Jokic Has A Lot Of Admiration For LeBron James
Jokic never shies away from giving someone props when they deserve it and he was full of praise for James after he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to become the all-time leading scorer. He said that LeBron’s prime is basically his whole career and that nobody in the near future will accomplish the things he did.
Jokic though is now on the verge of doing something that even LeBron couldn’t, which is winning 3 MVPs in a row. The media members had him as the runaway winner in a straw poll and unless his play suddenly falls off a cliff, it is hard to see anyone overtaking Jokic this late into the season.
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