If you ran into both LeBron James and Nikola Jokic on the street, perhaps the only thing you could say was similar about them is their massive size. But on the court, they’re both among the league’s best when it comes to controlling a game and directing the action on any given night they take the floor. Both James and Jokic are lauded for both their abilities to execute and their creative basketball minds, as they are able to find lanes, shots and make defensive plays faster than their opponents can anticipate.
While all of the above is true, when the two players were compared in a press conference leading up to Thursday night’s showdown, Jokic chose to show his sense of humor by wondering if LeBron can jump as the notoriously lateral and ground-bound Jokic.
Nikola Jokic on similarities with LeBron James: “The speed is there. We are the same athletically. … I don’t know. Can he jump as high as me?”
“…Guys, I am joking.”
— Mike Singer (@msinger) February 3, 2021
Jokic, of course, is a beast in transition in his own right. He is great at throwing outlet passes and he’s also able to lead the break as the best passer on his team. A lot like with James, the position Jokic guards on defense is not the position he plays on offense.
