Stephen A. Smith Challenges Kevin Garnett’s Misguided Remark on Nikola Jokić: “They Had to Change Rules for This Man”

Nikola Jokic continues to transcend the game of basketball. As a center, he has forced everyone to look at the position as being more than just a post-player. Don’t get it twisted, he is serene when it comes to playing with the back to the basket. In fact, he is an ingenious post-scorer. However, the way he sees the floor, the way he passes the ball, and makes the game for players around him is an ability unmatched in today’s game. It forced one of the game’s very greats to make an outrageous comment.

“He’s more dominant than Wilt Chamberlain,” said Celtics legend Kevin Garnett, and there was not a slight twitch in his take. He did so while marveling at The Joker’s stats. And they are one to be dumbfounded by. Nikola Jokic can score a triple-double just for fun. It is the first time since Russell Westbrook that the stat has been normalized for a player.

The two-time MVP knows what it takes to win, and he is more selfless than any player in the league. But more dominant than a guy who averaged 50 points per game? Not to Stephen A. Smith.

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Smith reminds the world of Wilt’s dominance against Nikola Jokic comparison

When you talk of Wilt Chamberlain, you think of an alien. There aren’t tapes to remember him by, only stories. Yet those chronicles make you imagine just how powerful a wave was Chamberlain. The only man to ever score 100 points in a game, an unprecedented record set ever since he was a rookie. For his entire career, he averaged 22.9 rebounds. His stats and performance echo nothing but otherworldly.

His impact was so dense that it is felt to this day. Name any scoring stat and the first question is ‘How many times did Wilt do it?’. That’s the kind of overlooking shadow he has on the sport of basketball. He holds almost all the scoring records possible. So when Smith heard KG say Nikola Jokic was more dominant than Wilt Chamberlain, he wasn’t going to let it slide without opposition. The ESPN analyst had to school the legend with some hard evidence to support the Lakers great.

“In the year 1961-63, Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50 and 25.7 rebounds. For his career he’s a 22.9 rebounds per game player. He was a 54% shooter (career). Wasn’t three-point shooting back then and the parody that exists now certainly did not exist then. But Wilt Chamberlain, they had to change the rules for this man because he was so big, so dominant that it was unfair to the competition. You got to think about things like that,” said Smith.

The NCAA and NBA had to work meticulously to curb the dominance of Chamberlain. There are bewildering stories of what he was capable of doing. Wilt could apparently jump from the free throw line all the way to the rim without his feet touching the paint. He was tall and could jump high enough to manipulate his teammates’ shot attempts. To counter these things, the NBA and NCAA introduced goal tending and altered the free throw laws.

Nikola Jokic is unique, a rare piece of treasure. However, Chamberlain was from another planet altogether. The seven-time scoring champion was deemed unfair to the game while he stood equally as human as anyone else. Wilt Chamberlain was just that gifted and that better than everyone else.

He had the perfect mold of an indomitable superstar, and absurdity was bound to follow when he leaped. So no matter how many of his records might be broken or how much a player bends the game to his will, the only person to defeat it will be Wilt Chamberlain.

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