Denver Nuggets superstar center Nikola Jokic is about to play in the NBA Finals for the first time, and he has won back-to-back regular season MVPs. Yet he remains underrated and underappreciated.
Los Angeles Lakers fans witnessed how excellent Jokic is during the recent Western Conference finals in which his team swept the Purple and Gold while he posted three triple-doubles.
Perhaps in a fortnight or so, he will start to get his flowers, but for now, some are still skeptical he’s for real.
One of those skeptics seems to be former Lakers center Dwight Howard, who said he would take his prime self over Jokic.
Prime Nikola Jokic… or prime Dwight Howard?@DwightHoward is taking himself “ALL DAY, EVERYDAY!” 😂#RunItBack with @ShamsCharania @MichelleDBeadle @ChandlerParsons & @bansky pic.twitter.com/xeWCnH8sPx
— FanDuel TV (@FanDuelTV) May 29, 2023
In his prime, Howard wasn’t a super-skilled offensive player, although he managed to average over 20 points a game in four seasons. It was on defense and on the boards where he made his name. He led the NBA in rebounding average five times and won three straight Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Although Howard will, in all likelihood, end up in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, he was never on Jokic’s level.
