The Los Angeles Lakers getting another crack at the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs gives LeBron James another close look at Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic.
Jokic is on pace to win his third Most Valuable Player award in four seasons after putting together another incredible campaign while 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, like James has been throughout his historic career, is both the team’s best scorer and passer, a rare combo. James is also the Lakers’ leading scorer and passer, with 25.7 points and 8.3 assists per game.
And for James, who has seen all types of players over the course of his 21 seasons, is particularly impressed by the way Jokic can defeat opponents however he chooses. He focused especially on how being an elite scorer and passer can work to make both even more deadly.
“When you have the ability to score at will, it makes your passing even more dynamic,” James said. “We’ve had great passers in our league history. We’ve had great guys that 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, myself, if you try to take away our passing, we can still be effective. That’s what makes us so dynamic.”
Despite playing very different positions, James and Jokic are quite similar in that way. Both are such incredible scorers and passers that trying to take away one only opens the door to hurt opponents with the other. And taking away both is a near impossibility, given that they are both at the top of the league statistically in both skillsets.
As the Lakers and Nuggets begin this series, fans get the honor of watching two of the league’s most dynamic offensive players go head to head.
Nikola Jokic has huge respect for Lakers
Jokic, who has seen plenty of the Lakers over the last two seasons, is not taking the matchup lightly in the slightest, calling it perhaps one of the most difficult postseason series’ of his career. He believes the Lakers were a lot closer to them than the sweep appeared last season and could easily make life difficult for them in 2024.
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