A semifinal of two top basketball nations is only hours away. Team USA, a squad injected with NBA greatness, and Serbia, with three-time MVP Nikola Jokic, take each other in the second semis of the Paris Olympics. In the group stage, the LeBron James-led team decimated Serbia. However, a lot has happened since then. And upsets can never be ruled out at such a large stage as Jokic is hard to stop. Yet Dwight Howard doesn’t give them much of a chance.

The former Los Angeles Lakers center took to X to wish luck to his national team for their upcoming Paris Olympics matchup. But in the clip he shared, Howard shared his feelings about the Serbia squad. “Serbia, no disrespect. Serbia, they ain’t good,” he said. Additionally, in the tweet, he also sent a message to Jokic. Howard thinks the Serbian is ‘lucky’.

“Let’s go Team USA ! Jokic lucky I aint playing,” he said in the challenging tweet.

He isn’t the only one who feels the same way. During the latest episode of his podcast, Draymond Green took a strong stance against Brian Windhorst claiming Serbia are the biggest threats to the USA. “Windy talking about Serbia is the biggest threat to Team USA? Stop it. Here’s why that don’t work. That doesn’t work because they have Joker, no question. They don’t have a guard that can compete with Tyrese Haliburton. That is ZERO disrespect to Tyrese Haliburton, but Tyrese Haliburton has been the guard out of the rotation for Team USA,” he said.

So far, USA and Serbia have met each other twice prior to their matchup tonight. Both times, Team USA ran all over them. First time during the showcase, Stephen Curry’s 24-point shooting supremacy took over. Then in the Olympic group stage, they again won by over 20+ points. So in all fairness to Howard and Green, history does side with them.

However, with Nikola Jokic, ruling out the technical center is the last thing Team USA will do. One misstep and the Joker can play his tricks.

Dwight Howard contained Nikola Jokic during Lakers championship run

For those not familiar, during the Bubble in 2021, Howard and Nikola Jokic met in the WCF. And back then, ‘Superman’ contained him well. The three-time DPOY was instrumental in holding Jokic to 21.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, and five assists. His brutal physicality wore down the Joker which shut down the Nuggets offense.

However, since that time Nikola Jokic has accumulated three league MVPs and developed his game immensely. That’s not to say Dwight Howard couldn’t have still found success. But it would be a significantly harder challenge than what it was years ago.

The former Orlando Magic ace has previously also been a part of one of the most iconic USA Olympic squads of all time. The 38-year-old played an integral part in the 2008 Redeem Team winning its first gold medal following the 2004 debacle. During the Olympic campaign, Howard’s explosive athleticism prevailed against most centers.

In eight games, Howard averaged 10.9 points and 5.8 rebounds as the starting center.