Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic has been playing at an elite level over the past five years and is already in the all-time conversations.
Nikola Jokic is aiming to drive the Denver Nuggets on to win a second NBA title despite their temporary coaching situation.
Jokic has already won the MVP three times and at the age of 30, still has plenty more basketball to play. Debate is already underway about whether he is a top 10 all-time player.
An interesting conversation was held over how he compares to two legends, with former Lakers stars Mychal Thompson and Michael Cooper making their picks.
Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty ImagesNikola Jokic vs Hakeem Olajuwon vs Shaquille O’Neal
For a segment on the CLNS Basketball History podcast, Michael Cooper and Mychal Thompson held a ‘start, bench, cut’ discussion involving Nikola Jokic.
The pair had to select between Nikola Jokic, Hakeem Olajuwon and Shaquille O’Neal, and they had very different responses.
Mychal Thompson put all his chips in on Nikola Jokic, picking him to start ahead of Shaquille O’Neal or Hakeem Olajuwon.
He explained: “I would start Jokic. We have never seen a center do what he does with the ball man. He’s the best passer I’ve ever seen, so I’m starting him, and I’m cutting Shaq, and I’ve got to bench Hakeem.”
Thompson’s pick left Cooper stunned, who responded: “Are you crazy?”
Thompson doubled-down, clarifying: “I love Shaq, but you couldn’t go to him in the last minutes of the game, Kobe had to take over and be the closer. I hate to do it.
“Hakeem with his footwork could play defense as well as offense, but Jokic is the best passer I’ve ever seen, he can score at all three levels, post, mid, and threes, and his defense has improved enough where I can respect his defense. Not as good as Hakeem of course.”
“I’d start Jokic above any center except Wilt [Chamberlain] and Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar].”
Michael Cooper would ‘cut’ Nikola Jokic
Michael Cooper had a very different take, picking Hakeem Olajuwon as his starter, with Nikola Jokic ‘cut’.
He explained: “I’m going to bench Shaq, the reason I’m going to bench Shaq is he’s the most powerful player to ever play.
“Shaq was just a dominating force, but he couldn’t hit his free-throws consistently, so I’m going to go with him, and I’m going to cut the Joker.”
Cooper had previously named O’Neal among his favorite NBA players of all time, a list that controversially did not include Michael Jordan.