Deprived Of Kobe Bryant, NBA Insider Reveals Nikola Jokic Has Invaded Shaq’s Space

If the debates over LeBron James or Michael Jordan were dominating all these years, now there is another pair in town. Of course, they haven’t overtaken LBJ vs. MJ, but there is a good chance that might be the case. They are none other than Nikola Jokic and Shaquille O’Neal. Both, are dominant centers, and both are practically immovable.

While their playing style is different in that Shaq played with brute physicality while Jokic is more or less like a brilliant, savvy, H-O-R-S-E player, here’s another interesting similarity: O’Neal was the last center to earn the Finals MVP honor. After him, Nikola, the 6’11 center, was the recipient of that award last season.

And another fun fact is that both of them are named after comic book characters. One of Shaq’s nicknames is ‘Superman’, while Jokic is none other than the infamous Batman villain, ‘Joker’. These are all feel-good facts about the pair of them. But the kind of impact the Serbian big man has on his team is simply otherworldly.

Fox Sports Radio’s The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and Rob Parker podcast delves into the dominance of Nikola Jokic. Broussard gives his take on why the Lakers can’t touch the Nuggets, no matter what strategies they come up with. “Their main guy is about getting everybody to play their best.” 

Parker, for his part, saw something else in the picture Chris painted. “The Joker entered the Shaq space, Chris,“ he said. “How do you stop the Joker, Chris? Who is going to be the guy to stop him?” Both are very good questions. And that is something other teams in the league are yet to figure out.

If Darvin Ham is to be believed, LA still has a few tricks up their sleeves to throw at Nikola Jokic and Co. But so far, none of the adjustments they have made has had any effect on the Nuggets. In fact, the Purple & Gold get to an early run and Denver simply makes their entire first-half effort moot with a late rally. That is the reason they have beaten the Lakers for 11 straight games.

But another fact that Rob Parker mentions is how the defending champ is doing all of this alone.

“Don’t have a Kobe”: Parker is in awe of Nikola Jokic’s ability to keep the team on top

When the Lakers won three rings in a row during the Shaq-Kobe era, the Diesel had the Mamba by his side. But in the case of Nikola Jokic, Denver does not boast a player who can be compared to Kobe or even Magic. Sure, Jamal Murray is an All-Star caliber player, although the Canadian has yet to make his debut. But is he Bryant? Definitely not!

This is exactly why “it’s even more impressive,” Parker said, adding, “He don’t have a Kobe.” He further mentioned that even Larry Bird had three Hall of Famer players on his Celtics team. Chris then added that, like O’Neal and the Lakers, if they go on to win three championships consecutively or not, it would still remain a major achievement. Because Jokic would have done it without anyone like Kobe, Bird, Magic, or HoFs with him.

Broussard’s earlier-mentioned opinion is one the King himself admitted to. Ahead of the playoffs, LeBron James said that Jokic’s ability to help his teammates believe in themselves even when they think they are incapable is the true attribute of a great. And it is true. The Nuggets are a team that is “organically developed”.

Nikola started playing for the ‘Mile High City’ in 2015. It took seven years before they finally clinched the franchise’s first-ever title. And in all these years, the team took the time to develop their teamwork. They let the growth happen naturally, and they are better for it now.