The NBA Finals are over, and the parties and celebrations are finally slowing down in the Denver area after the Nuggets Championship win. The accolades continue to flow in for the team, and especially their superstar, Nikola Jokic, the man they call The Joker.
After one of the most dominant, powerful runs by a single star player the postseason, Jokic led Denver to the team’s first-ever championship in franchise history. In the process, the 2-time MVP also put in his bid to be considered one of the greatest of all time.
During the Finals series, our man Shaq was all-in with the Joker fan club. O’Neal personally welcomed Jokic to what he called the ‘big man alliance’ after he was named Finals MVP. When the Nuggets swept the Lakers out of the tournament, Shaq came right out and said what many were thinking: Joker was a better center than Joel Embiid..and was no doubt the best in the NBA.
Embiid was this season’s Most Valuable. This after Joker had won the trophy the two seasons prior. If the post season had been part of the selection process, the award probably would have gone to Jokic again. Joker led the 2023 MVP in every statistical category apart from blocks per game in the Playoffs. Yes, he played 11 more games than Embiid, but just about every NBA analyst is convinced that Jokic is better.
One of those singing Jokic’s praises is Nick Wright. Wright is a TV and sports talk radio show host. Along with Kevin Wildes and Chris Broussard, the group hosts Fox Sports 1’s “First Things First” program. In Wright’s words, Joker is one of the few all-time greats from the 21st century.
While giving the list of his other 9 players and when they got themselves in that category, Wright put Jokic among the 10 all-time greats since the turn of the century.
Shaq agreed with that take and recently even shared the story of it on his Instagram. For the regular season, Jokic managed 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 9.8 assists per game with a mind-boggling efficiency rating of 124.2. That propelled the Nuggets to a #1 finish in the West for the first time.
As for Embiid, he had a great season, too. He averaged a league-leading 33.1 points throughout the season, to go along with 10.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.7 blocks, and a steal per game. So winning the 2023 MVP over Jokic was not really a crazy selection.
How about that “Big Man Alliance” Shaq talked about? Well, along with O’Neal himself (of course!), along with Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon, Patrick Ewing and David Robinson. Quite the great roster… and now it includes the Joker!
