The Los Angeles Lakers earn a rematch against the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2024 NBA playoffs. It will be a match between LeBron James and Nikola Jokic again. The latter is on track to win his third Most Valuable Player award in four seasons after putting together another incredible season in defending the Nuggets’ 2023 NBA championship.
Jokic was the Nuggets’ team leader in points per game (26.4), rebounds per game (12.4), assists per game (9.0) and steals per game (1.4). He, as James has been throughout his storied career, is both the team’s leading scorer and passer, a rare combination. James is also the Lakers’ leading scorer and passer, with 25.7 points and 8.3 assists per game.
And James, who has seen all types of players over the course of his 21 seasons, is particularly impressed with the way Jokic can outplay opponents any way he wants. He specifically focused on how being an elite scorer and passer can work to make both even more lethal.
“When you have the ability to score at will, your passing becomes even more dynamic,” James said. “We’ve had great passers in the history of our league. We’ve had great guys who are very unselfish. But if that’s all you can do, then teams can try to force you to score and kind of take that away. Guys like Luka, Magic in his prime, Joker, me, if you try to take the pass away from us, we can still be effective. That’s what makes us so dynamic.”
Despite playing very different positions, James and Jokic are quite similar in this regard. Both are such incredible scorers and passers that trying to limit them in one only opens the door to hurting opponents with the other. And taking both qualities away from them is nearly impossible, as they are both at the top of the league statistically in both skill sets.
2024-04-19 22:11:24
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