Dwight Howard Pours Cold Water on Nikola Jokic’s Heroics With Bold Claim

The NBA world is left wondering one thing: Can anyone stop Nikola Jokic? After hitting a game-winner against the Golden State Warriors at the end of the shot clock, the Serbian big showed precisely why he was the 2023 NBA finals MVP and a back-to-back regular season MVP. While the fans were mesmerized by the difficulty of the shot, Dwight Howard believes he has the answer to trumping The Joker.

Although Howard acknowledged that Jokic’s shot was impressive, he tweeted, “Joker not hitting that shot on Superman. good shot though.” As the Orlando Magic legend has prior experience guarding Jokic, he even shared an entire mixtape of him stopping the Denver Nuggets big during their playoff matchup in 2020.

Nikola Jokic had an insane performance against Stephen Curry and the Warriors. After the Warriors were leading by 16 with just over 5 minutes left in regulation, the Nuggets went on a scoring run to bring back the game. With Curry having a costly turnover with less than 10 seconds left, Jokic had exactly 3.6 seconds to give the Nuggets a memory to cherish forever.

But Howard, who recently signed for Strong Group, is not impressed with the defense that was played on Jokic. Having gone up against the Serbian in the 2020 NBA Western Conference finals, Howard believes that Jokic can be stopped.

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It is without question that Howard’s defense was one of the key reasons for the Lakers advancing against the Nuggets. His impact against Jokic was further visible, as 5x All-Star had fewer points than in his previous series. But is it really true that Howard could have done it by himself?

The 2020 Lakers made it tough for Nikola Jokic

While it is true that Howard has a couple of defensive highlight plays against Jokic, the Lakers had much more to offer in 2020. During the Western Conference finals, the Lakers ran almost 3 centers against Jokic while giving him different looks every day.

Along with Dwight Howard, JaVale McGee, and most importantly, Anthony Davis, also played a major role in stopping Jokic. But it does not take away from the fact that Howard was impressive on his own as well. Even Nikola Jokic has acknowledged the defense played by the Lakers back then in a recent episode of Curious Mike.

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As the former defensive player of the year is trying to make his return to the NBA, making the fans remember that he can be the solution for one of the biggest problems in the NBA can be enticing to the teams that are looking to strengthen their backcourt.

What do you think about Dwight Howard’s bold claims against Nikola Jokic? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!