Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic has explained why he is not a fan of one aspect of how basketball is viewed in the NBA.
The Nuggets centre is trying to help the team win their first ever NBA Championship as they take on the Miami Heat. It’s the first appearance in the Finals for the Nuggets in the franchise’s history.
Game 3 on Wednesday saw the Nuggets claim a victory on the road at the Kaseya Center in Miami. Michael Malone’s team now leads the series 2-1 going into Game 4 on Friday night.
Jokic made history in the Game 3 win by teaming up with Jamal Murray to be part of the first duo to each score a triple double in an NBA Finals game. But the two-time NBA MVP, speaking ahead of Game 4, and made his feelings known when asked about the "obsession" with statistics in the NBA.
"I only talk about people telling me my stats, and I'm trying to say it's team basketball," Jokic replied.
"I think it's how everything works. In Europe, it's a little bit maybe the team, the winning. Here is winning too, but maybe more stats. I don't know."
The 28-year-old began his basketball career in his homeland in Serbia with Mega Basket. He would be drafted by the Nuggets in 2014 in the second round with the 41st overall pick, and has gone on to become one of the best players in the NBA.
However, he was honest in his assessment when asked if he found it difficult to come to terms with how statistics are viewed in the United States.
Jokic was also full of praise for his team-mate Christian Braun, who starred in the Game Three win in Miami. The rookie, who was drafted from Kansas last year with the 21st overall pick, came off the bench to score 15 points in just 19 minutes.
Braun’s impact from the bench in the third and fourth quarters were a key factor in the Nuggets getting the win. And Jokic acknowledged the rookie’s impact by saying the victory wouldn’t have been possible without Braun’s performance.
“I told him ‘You won us the game,’" Jokic said in his press conference after Game 3. “Like you said, he’s a winner and he won us the game with the energy, just the focus, the mindset.
“Even when he makes a mistake he makes an aggressive mistake so you can’t be mad at him, I always say that. So he won us the game and he was really good tonight.”
