He's the greatest white baller since Larry Bird and its not close
this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2023
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Brian “White Mamba” Scalabrine would like to have a word…
About how good Jokic is.
If he plays til 35+ I think so. If he retires early to vibe with his horses most likely not.
Why do people still complain about embiid mvp? Jokic deserves it but its a regular season award & embiid was better there.
The funniest part is not someone having opinion on something as vague as "best player", that can mean anything to anyone.
The funniest part by far is that they THEMSELVES were obsessed about how awful would it be to give it to Jokić lol. I know from experience how much shit you'd get for the whole season when you even mentioned that maybe, maybe Jokić might be kinda considered by someone to not be so bad.
It was unimaginable to even say this is possible in winter. Even presenting any point of view was massively downvoted, not rarely called racist. Like... Where are all these guys now? Now I keep reading for months that Embiid's MVP was "travesty" lol.
It shouldn't have been a tight race to begin with (and wasn't for the vast majority of the season).
And people were saying it at the time too.
Jokic still was on the floor for more wins eventhough he sat those games out. Jokic was just better in the regular season even while cruising to the number one seed.
Top 10 is locked in for now. Curry’s not in it either.
It's actually not. Hakeem, Kobe, Bill and Wilt are in and out of those lists with variations of Curry and sometimes KD in it.
Kobe should never be out unless you’re trolling, nor Bill or Wilt. That opinion comes down to newer fans not knowing how good a player is/was
Who the hell puts Bill/Wilt out of their top 10? That’s just straight up blasphemy
That’s what I mean. Anyone that leaves them out literally don’t care about basketball at all. They only care about feeling like everything they’ve seen is all that matters
Their era and their brand of basketball is way different from the modern game so people don't bother ranking them which is totally respectable.
It's also hard to evaluate and compare them to even guys like Kareem or Hakeem who have played closer to modern basketball than them.
In my opinion, as a basketball player, Jokic is a way better player than both Bill and Wilt as well.
Not a slight on Kobe but it's fair to say that there are 10-11 players better than him. Jordan, Kareem, LeBron, Magic, Bird, Wilt, Bill, Duncan, Shaq, Hakeem and Curry could all be above him. Depends on what a person values.
I mean he’d need at least two more championships and I’m not sure that’s in the cards.
top 2 and it aint 2
Hard to say. Look at Curry's resume, and people still question if he's in the top-10.
It'll be hard to crack.
I mean let’s look at both of their resumes by age 27.
Curry at age 27 or the end of the 2016 season. 3x all star, 1x all nba 2nd team 2x all nba first team, 2x MVP 1 ring 1x steal leader and scoring leader if you care.
Jokic at age 27 or the end of this year. 5x all star, 2x all nba 2nd team, 3x all nba first team, 2x MVP 1 ring and FMVP.
There is no telling what will happen over the next however many years Jokic plays. His resume at this age is really good and he is just entering his prime.
Top 10 isn’t really about how good you were at your peak, it’s about how long you were good.
Jolie had had 3 historically great seasons in a row, but he's gonna have to do that for another 5-7 years to make top 10. Would anyone really be surprised if he retires before then?
He’s gonna have to do more than just be good lol he’s gonna have to win more rings
He's gonna have to continue playing at this level for another 5 years and win 2 more rings. It's doable but very very difficult
It's about both.
And I think you're underrating just how good these last 3 seasons have been. Nobody, not even Jordan or Lebron, has 10 equal or better seasons. If Jokic rattles off 7 more like the last 3, he's the GOAT, not merely in top 10 contention.
Greatest regular season offensive player? Maybe.
Greatest basketball player ever? No.
This is why nobody likes Nuggets fans
The top 20 will be the new top 10 over the course of the next decade. Steph is the greatest shooter the game has ever seen with 2 MVPs and 4 titles and is barely in top 10 conversations now.
He should be imo.
He’s Kobe/Duncan/KG tier for me easily
Top 15 maybe. 20 waters it down way too much. From 10 for 75 years to double for 85 years doesn't make sense.
Yep, as it should be.
Imo Jokic is on pace to surpass Dirk and KG who are typically ranked between 15 and 20. He’s exceeded my wildest expectations these past three years so I’m not going to say he won’t be top 10 when he retires but I think the Vegas odds are still fairly long at the moment. A lot of things need to break his way that are completely out of his control - namely teammate health
Why don't you just wait till he retires to find out.
I compare Jokic to Hakeem, aside from his playmaking and lack of defense, and Hakeem isn't even close to top 10.
It's hard especially in this modern age of basketball, unless you're KAJ, or Wilt, or maybe now Wemby, you won't be remembered as a top 10 or all time great if you play the center position.
What??
Assuming he plays long enough, of course
No
He won't, because:
He's white
He's European
He doesn't have some mamba mentality bullshit going
He won't have that type of longevity I think (realistically he is in his 3rd all time great season now and god knows how long he wants to play or compete at that level and he needs at least 2 more rings)
His game isn't flashy enough
You can go ahead and remove points 1, 2 and 4.
You don't need to push this poor Jokic victim narrative it's actually really simple. To make the top 10 ever you need stupid longevity, which Jokic most likely won't have.
Bro didn't 3peat MVPs because he's not a brother. NBA posted graphics to "NBA is back on Tuesday" and didn't put Jokic on there, I know you don't understand this but a guy who gives interviews that sound like he doesn't give a fuck aren't good for business and also not good for media coverage.
It's a good thing media coverage doesn't determine this.
True the media would never influence public perception in any topic.
If they can influence yours that's on you.
True, because every other NBA doesn't build their opinion on what they see in the media or on social media, they build it on their years of experience as players and watching film.
That surely isn't delusional.
Like I said, if they can influence yours, that's on you
Most likely is an exaggeration
The only thing you got right here is him deciding to hang it up early, which is entirely possible
No
We don’t know what will happen to Analytics in basketball, but it’s safe to assume they will keep getting better and become more important. And it’s entirely possible that future analytics will decide Jokic is top 10 even the greatest ever.
I love Jokic but new players cracking anyone's top 10 depends on a persons consistency with their lists and who they have 10th. If you are a person who value peak and not longevity and have someone like Bird 10th then Jokic can pass him and hence be top 10. If you are an accolade person, Jokic may never get there, given the parity in the league today.
Tbh, if he continues walking this current path, I'd have him in top 5. It's always unlikely but he has IT, something very rarely seen in a player.
I doubt it.
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Too much parity - will be difficult to win enough rings to get in that discussion.
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I’m just not sure he’ll want to play long enough to have the necessary longevity
Getting into the top 15-20 discussion is definitely possible. Top 10 will be tough.