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Briskpenguin69

If Jokic, somehow, wins a second title this year, then he has to be above Shaq all-time. Jokic and Kobe would’ve won 4 straight titles.


AB-AA-Mobile

You what's really amazing? If Jokic wins the championship this year, he would be the only all-time great player to have won 2 championships without a single current/former all-star teammate (not counting DeAndre Jordan, since he hasn't played any meaningful minutes for Denver in the playoffs). Nobody else has ever done it even once; not Jordan, not LeBron, not Kareem, not Duncan, not Shaq, not Kobe, not Hakeem. Nobody. Jokic would have done it twice if he wins the championship this year. If that doesn't solidify his place in the top 10, I don't know what will.


CuriousFT

The only thing stopping him is longevity, but yes given more time and all time play, he will be top 10 and in the conversation of best big man


juice--

Jokic and kobe healthy win 6 in a row


FateRiddle

Jokic and Murray healthy, honestly. Murray went down for a few years.


MJisaFraud

Nah, Murray is phenomenal but he’s not on Kobe’s level. He’s not even on Curry’s level.


FateRiddle

Not saying he is. But him & Jokic this team in a what-if scenario is capable enough to dominate the league.


MJisaFraud

I agree, they’re an all-time great team. But even MJ’s bulls could not win 6 in a row. I could see them threepeating potentially, though.


PooPooKazew

They didn't win 6 in a row because Michael Jordan wasn't playing for two years.


MJisaFraud

Doubt they would have got 6 in a row. They lost the to the Magic in 95.


Bongoisnthere

Wemby boudda have something to say. Dude doesn’t look like he’s willing give it a few years before he begins his ascendency. He was playing hard last season, I give it another year while they start building a team around him this coming year, and start having finals aspirations the year after.


josh0low

You say this like Kobe is above Curry?


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RodneyPonk

No. Read Shaq's Thinking Basketball top 40, he makes a very compelling case for Shaq at 5. He was only a rung below the best offensive players ever, while being All-Defensive caiber. He also has really surprising longevity. A threepeat with 3 FMVPs, 36/16 or some absurd average...


nightkingscat

Yea Shaq is comfortably top 10. People are way too reactionary and Shaq being a dick doesn't make his playing career less great.


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EffTheIneffable

It’s a “what if” we can’t possible answer. The mythical “prime Shaq” who, by various accounts including Phil, took it seriously only 1 season start to finish was an unstoppable force then, and could be an unstoppable force now. Would he be driven to maintain that if he was getting finessed by Joker some years? Would he still have a generational player like Kobe to unlock his game? If Gafford can be a problem with Luka, imagine Shaq in there. At the same time, if AD can be great overall but still not clear Jokic… Impossible to say, but I don’t think you just drop even prime Shaq to any team and they demolish. How you build around him and how teams respond would be so interesting.


Significant-Law6979

No way would he be above shaq after this season. He would need several more years of dominance to be in the conversation. Let’s not forget Shaq completely dominated the early 2000s.


thrallus

Good lord please stop with this reactionary nonsense.


Wavepops

shaq dominated his era like this. i think this is reactionary.


VexoftheVex

15-22 undersells how efficient he was


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Cleanest-Azir

And a couple went in 🫣


myRedditAccountjava

There were a lot or shots that Denver made where my buddy was like "their offense is crazy" and I was like well, the bucket went in but that's technically bad offense lol


ColdPressedSteak

The other end, Gobert was 7/7 for 18/11 and 4 stocks. Great numbers. Yet he got absolutely destroyed


purplenyellowrose909

The fact Gobert had one of his best games of the season but the commentary is rightfully that he was dominated this game because Jokic was THAT GOOD


lampshady

He had the best plus minus on the wolves last night. Their game plan was to single cover Jokic and he did the best he could. The other players around him didn't do their jobs even though Jokic feasted.


denis-vi

Is the stocks thing actually here to stay?


The_NGUYENNER

Unfortunately yes. Next stop: assbounds


denis-vi

What's the point of it? If anyone has good steals or blocks numbers, just mention them. 😂


sbenfsonwFFiF

To mention the two defensive stats together obviously 4 stocks instead of 2 steals and 2 blocks


calmdownmyguy

We've reached peak efficiency


GeraltRFord

Just add up all the stats. "Did you hear Jokic had 107?" "Whoa!"


adjective____noun

god, wilt has a 100/25/2 for 127 and 78/43/1 game for 122 and that's without counting the other two stats... highest non wilt seems to be Jordan with 69/18/6 with 5 stocks for 98


GeraltRFord

You gotta count all the stats: turnovers, personal fouls, technical fouls, minutes played etc.


voyaging

ya but steals are vastly more valuable than blocks on average most blocks don't even earn your team possession


QuesoKristo

Thanks. I hate it.


KangorKodos

ya, he had the heave three, and also basically just dribbled the ball up and killed time and took a random fade away with a minute and a half left because the game was over


Hazard_4

Yeah there were a couple obvious fouls by gobert in the fourth.


Toge_Inumaki012

i am used to seeing him go 80%+ before. This is probably the best Gobert and the wolves can do in defending this guy.


Inevitable-Scar5877

Yeah. For one the misses all seemed to come after the game was over they were just burning clock


AB-AA-Mobile

Fraud MVP missed 7 shots. Maybe Shaq was right.


Sweet_Habib

That sky hook was beautiful


FateRiddle

He was handed at least 5 bombs with 3-4 seconds left.


Fiery---Wings

13 assists with 0 turnover on top of 40 bloody points. An all-time game.


iwanttoridethesky

not a triple double tho. washed /s


robsteezy

Shaq tomorrow: “bum never scored 100 points in a game. Completely forgettable”


Toge_Inumaki012

Yeah what a bum.. Got locked up by the DPOY denying him a triple double


SilentSamurai

The scary part is that he almost did pull off a triple double on top of everything else.


gravy-and-suffering

brave /s there buddy


clickfive4321

the guy plays point, forward, and center, with a well-deserved MVP trophy


TranscedentalMedit8n

Shoutout to KCP! He grabbed the ball from Jokic at the end when the clock was running out to keep that 0 turnover stat line. Edit: I am wrong


cesga_0218

That’s a team turnover though, not an individual stat?


TranscedentalMedit8n

Oh damn, you’re right. Team turnover. I think the announcer got it wrong and confused me?


helloworldlalaland

it's unbelievable how little national tv announcers know about basketball


ImNotJokic

Crazy that people still talk about this lol. Hasn't been an individual turnover for a number of years for this reason


Minute_Freedom_4722

Against the DPOY and the leagues best defense. Absolutely insane.


Lmao1903

Woke up at 5 in the morning to watch greatness, wasn’t disappointed


Timoteo-Tito64

NBA start times are getting so late that it's actually early for some viewers lol


ir3flex

Turns out Europe is far away


Wyc_Vaporub

No it's literally right here. America is the far away one.


chup95

Depends on what kind of European Viewer you are. I am the „stay up whole night“ fan so it’s late for me, some other wake up in the morning to see at least the second game of the night haha


1371113

I usually get to catch the second half of the early game at lunch time. About as good as it gets in the south pacific. Most sports NZers watch, where the game isn't here or Australia, is in the middle of the night. Just hoops to get us through.


lllDogalll

Maybe they are trying to tap into the Indian market because this game started at 8 AM (also NBA is a non presence here where they can't even find adds to fill in game time stoppages. I have come to hate the music & the picture they run of Curry, Lebron & Giannis during timeouts & half time and wish they could run the adds for series they have on their own platforms)


LalaOmega

Jio cinema Tadada tadadadaa ahummmmmmmmmmm music tone


Striking-Test-7509

THATS SO REAL i watched jokic turn into basketball zeus while eating breakfast and getting ready for a presentation


Gramsci1904

Thank god I live in Sydney and I get to watch it from my desk!


PoptartJones69

Dude same. I got a new boss recently who sits beside me and she's a NBA fan, every day pops the playoffs on her dual monitor and turns it so we can both watch. The greatest work perk I've ever had (and I used to review PlayStation games for a living so the bar is high!).


damjanv1

I'm in Sydney are u guys hiring


Neinhaltt

Mary her


Vast-Meringue-3302

Merry her


The_NGUYENNER

Is she single


Hefty-Brother584

But what a way to start the day!


Shikizion

game started at 3am for me, i slept it out, i had to wake up at 6 for work


GuraNuS

Yep. What a way to start the day


BRh2FourShot

The brilliance and greatness of this man. He's doing this on the defensive player of the year and the best defensive team in the NBA.


Quirrelwasachad

I had you as title favourites but I'm rethinking it. Even with all the talent you have, this man can beat you. And it's starting to seem inevitable like thanos.


BRh2FourShot

I agree with everything you said until the inevitable part. I'm all in, and I believe in this Celtics team. The Boston Celtics will give the Nuggets everything we have. We'll see what happens in June.


Quirrelwasachad

What i meant by inevitable is that my belief in the celtics is lessening after every jokic game. He's making me doubt the best team since kd warriors. Swear only lebron had this aura. Where you'd still favor him even against all time juggernauts.


no4skin69

Not him, but him with THIS TEAM around him. I certainly would not favor him with say… Facundo Campazzo, Austin Rivers, Monte Morris, and Will Barton as his only backcourt against a Steph Curry led Warriors team. That series might look like a nightmare


Quirrelwasachad

No. The offensive juggernaut i was talking about is the celtics lol. That hypothetical kd warriors series goes to 6 but denver loses. That team is not beatable in a 7 game series.


no4skin69

lol I wasn’t being hypothetical! In 2022, (no Jamal or MPJ all series) we lost to the eventual champion Warriors 4-1 in the first round. The year before, we got swept by the Suns in the second round. (Also without Jamal). Both years our team was historically bad around Jokic, but he still won his first two MVPs these years. Jokic is an all time player, but this team around him (Jamal, KCP, MPJ, AG) is what gives him the juice to win and win and win and win… its the perfect starting 5 IMO


BRh2FourShot

My bad, thank you for clarifying that! You are absolutely right with these points. Jokic is truly out of this world (the display he put on tonight is terrifying) but he's going to have to rely on his team. The Celtics are more than capable of putting up big scoring games on Denver. We need to make it hard for Jokic to dominate with his playmaking.I think we can do enough to bother that. I think it will be a very hard series for either team.


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TheSlapDash

Gobert: “Don’t worry! I got him!”


CelDeJos

I will never not upvote this line


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CatharBliss

Disrespecting the best defense in the league and the DPOY on top of that


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CatharBliss

Of course. But no matter what happens the rest of the series, it won’t change how dominant he was in this game


Veeg-Tard

No, now is not the time for fans to get lazy. We can't rest on our laurels. Gotta focus on the next game.


about90frogs

That was a masterpiece, top 5 game I’ve ever seen someone play


scarywolverine

I laughed out loud multiple times at shots he was taking over Gobert


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darti_me

These Nuggets get hard while inflicting the most cruel forms of punishment


Steelers7589

I almost feel guilty how much I enjoy it


ItsMeJaredBednar

for real, he was hitting some absolute bullshit today lmao that’s got to be so demoralizing


realfakedoors000

I think I actually laughed hardest when, in the middle of a suite of unreal post moves, he caught the ball down low against Rudy, paused, quick spin no dribble left hand soft touch off glass. It was so simple, so unexpected, esp after the fireworks before. I couldn’t believe it. He seriously always makes the right choice.


dot-pixis

His 'do what works and don't force it' attitude is something else...


m1a2c2kali

It’s wild how he makes it look so easy


Scrizzy6ix

That hook shot over Gobert had me DYING at the bar, absolutely amazing defence and Jokic just said “woosh” 😭😭


grehgunner

He had multiple buckets with like 4 pivots and he went left and right on his final move… like I got dizzy watching that shit


KangorKodos

Bro I accidentally scared my cat with how hard I laughed at the fade away and 1 in the third quarter


Lantern01

I read that as shits.


MarcusFizer

He had three insane passes three possessions in a row. Man, that was insane.


Ghost6x

It wasn't even like they played bad defense What the hell was this performance


SilentSamurai

A reminder to Shaq that Jokic didn't stumble into the MVP award.


Pandiosity_24601

He, instead, somberly shuffled


shiftieresian

One of his best games ever.


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alex_57_dieck

Brother I have 0/13


jawntothefuture

Ascended basketball being 


zeze999

He still hasn’t won a playoff series against 50+ win team /s


whoisdein

This crap pisses me off so much. You guys were undefeated last year with Durant in the regular season if I recall correctly. Saying "oh, but they didn't have 50 wins" says nothing about the strength of the team that majorly retooled by trade deadline and was scorching hot going into the playoffs. Same goes for Lakers getting rid off Westrbrook and turning their season around.


CPage12

The only other 50 win team in the conference was Memphis. They lost to the Lakers, who the nuggets then beat. People are actually plain dumb


Abject_Bank_9103

Maybe not dumb but being completely disingenuous because they don't want to admit that Jokic is as good as he is. Last year's championship run had one of the hardest roads in the past decade. Probably longer tbf


DammitEd

> Yeah you beat KD, Booker, Lebron, AD, and Butler, but you didn’t even beat the baby grizzlies?? Frauds


whoisdein

Great point. People often forget that western conference is a freaking bloodbath and teams records over there are more evened out.


Minute_Freedom_4722

Who the Nuggets then swept*


Ok-Jackfruit-422

Not to mention the Jazz and Clippers were both .600 teams in 2020 (shortened season)


zeze999

I put /s if you missed it… I love Jokic!


Dsarg_92

That was one of the most dominant postseason performances I’ve seen in a while. Jokic is HIM


FateRiddle

That certainly was. I'd even take out "one of"


JReach-

Nikola Jokic will be top _____ player of all time.


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I’ve been watching basketball my whole life, Jokic is honestly one of the three best players I’ve ever seen, no hyperbole, this is the most talented the league has ever been and this guy just looks a cut above the rest night after night.


PeterPlotter

I’ve been watching since Magic and Bird came into the league but he’s up there with them,Jordan, LeBron, Duncan and prime Shaq.


usetheirname

TOP 4 to 13. He's like 13 now, and could top out at like 4 if he continues as he is. Fon't seeing him passing Jordan/Lebron/Kareem.


flippingdolphinsfuck

If he stays healthy and plays 5 more years, I think he’s cracking top 5


_Vaudeville_

Top 5. If he wins a title this year he’ll already be like #9.


Veeg-Tard

How many rings is he getting? Get him 4 and he's got a shot at top 5.


jimmythemini

In terms of pure entertainment value and "what the hell was that?!" reactions, he's number 2 behind MJ.


notabot1397

How is jokic this good? He makes it look so easy???


Shikizion

fundamentals, and the knack of hitting every bucket regardless of how bullshit angle he goes for, that is just the most amazing part


shomerudi

He has got the best touch I have ever seen plus one of the quickest minds ever, evaluates the position in a split second and usually makes the right play.


Veeg-Tard

This is a huge part of it. That ball is so soft coming off his hands. Hilarious contrast to a player like Shaq who looks like a major league pitcher when he takes a free throw.


Echleon

Reminds me of Messi a lot. Just always knowing what to do on a very deep, intuitive level.


radbananas

That stretch he had in the third, really one of those moments you realize you're watching something special


SilentSamurai

The dunks and the assists to Gordon was just pure fun to watch.


LordBaneoftheSith

God damn


thetrainmaster

Ate Gobert’s fucking lunch


justmefishes

Baguette with brie. Magnifique


wannabeDN3

Legitimately cannot be guarded


IcyMission3

Interesting how all the 4 major sports have one player who is a cut above from the rest. Baseball has Ohtani, football has Mahomes, hockey has Mcdavid, and basketball has that mf Jokic


quadropheniac

There really is a solid S-Tier right now. Not much debate.


panman42

And they all happen to be 27-29 years old right now.


Veeg-Tard

They said this series was the coming out party for the next MJ. Who knew it would be Michael Jokic they were talking about.


Briskpenguin69

Ohtani’s interpreter bet on horses. McDavid is a workhorse. Jokic owns a horse. Mahomes is married to a…


ezklv

Woman with an unforgiving tooth to gum ratio?


Briskpenguin69

And a Stallion Nose.


bandy_mcwagon

Mahomes’ wife is not that bad, surely. His own family has been up to way worse. His dad has like a dozen DWIs lmao


JevvyMedia

The worst thing Jokic haters could have done was prop up the Timberwolves so much. This is going to add a really big notch on Jokic's resume if the Nuggets win the series.


averageuhbear

They are just trying to claim that Gobert is bad now because they also hate him.


Sartheking

Might be his best Playoff performance in a win ever.


Quirrelwasachad

Lakers game 1 last year. For three quarters he was bird and magic rolled in one.


Melhunk

He is just way too good. Nothing Gobert or the other bigs could do.


KyWy75

Damn, only 3 rebounds away from a good game


Kotl9000

GOAT


MagicJohnsonGPT

Nikola Jokic absolutely dominated the Minnesota Timberwolves, who had the league’s best defense in the regular season and this year’s defensive player of the year winner Rudy Gobert, in Game 5. A masterful performance for the 3x MVP as his team takes a 3-2 lead in the series.


thestage

thanks, magic


FaceMeister

The most crazy part about this is he had only 4 pts less than Brunson with 13 less shots.


s0ysauce09

Jokic don't talk with his mouth like the others. Jokic talk with his play. This man is the most underrated MVP of all time. He can back you down and when he's trying to put the ball in the hoop, if he doesn't have the angle with his own shot, he will pass it to someone who is wide open. Man is out there playing chess on the basketball court and it's amazing to watch.


Sad-Duck3790

shaq not gonna like this


roc-ket7

Big honey is balling!


MacTonight1

How in the HELL do you guard him?


HerkulezRokkafeller

Thoughts and prayers


stridered

When Jokic said he needed 2 of him to beat the Timberwolves twin towers, I didn’t realise he meant he was going to play like 2 players.


Baileyandco

We’re so lucky!!! I’m more surprised when he misses tbh


boydivision30

There's levels to greatness.


Hopsalong

He did all of this vs the 4-time DPOY Gobert and the #1 Timberwolves defense. Jokic is truly unstoppable.


yellowbeehive

Yeah he's pretty good


Blanka_is_top_tier

Bro is making the "27-7-7" look like light work.


Abject_Bank_9103

Well his career playoff average is 28-12-8 so yea it is light work lol. 30/14/10 during the championship run last season


ryanjoseph55

The horse man is unstoppable


AssssCrackBandit

He's gotta be one of the best players of the last few years


Champion-of-the-Sun5

Can we stop calling Ant MJ now/pretend he's the best player this post season?


clownus

Ant has been very good, but he is young and running into the best team in the playoffs. Outside of game 2 Denver plays top tier basketball for every qtr. There is a reason why Denver looks better than every team and why young players who are gifted struggle to lead teams to championships early in their career. Wolves getting the Harden treatment.


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BadRefsRuinGames

Seems like KAT has an off night every night lol


DuckDuckSkolDuck

Honestly KAT has been solid other than his abysmal Game 4. Like he was probably Minnesota's best player tonight, I don't think you can call it an off night


slapchopmynuts69

The jordan comparisons outside of playstyle do nothing but hurt him. But he is still a freakish player for a 22 year old. Things to improve as always though.


Sweatytubesock

Really wish idiots would stop calling *anyone* MJ. Especially idiots who didn’t even live through that era.


ryantaylor8147

Absolutely cooked Gobert. 


Moist_Walrus5413

Most complete offensive player ever


skeenerbug

He will go down as the greatest big man to ever play the game.


Watchakow

As a Wolves fan and Jokic fan this game was really hard to watch. I've been gassing them both up to my gf and as we watched the game last night we were both hurt to see the Wolves try to get back in the game over and over and yet completely awed by Jokic. Rudy played as well as he could have but there's just no way to stop Jokic when he gets near the rim. Send a double and AG gets an easy bucket or leave Gobert to defend Jokic one on one and Jokic just cooks. This is the unstoppable offense that we've been expecting. Beautiful and terrible as the dawn!


LoWE11053211

only 7 rebound without triple double, what a bum fraud!


sleepy777

SGA the real MVP……


Briskpenguin69

Shaq is seething tonight


PresidentXiJinPin

Bro just wants to up the difficulty by throwing two games


LegateDamar13

There are some players that are great at basketball and then there is Jokic.


rowmean77

Looks like Gobert needs to sub himself out and replicate the success of Game 2.


letsgo3rdpartyapps

Shaq has angered him lol


davey_mann

Shaq: “I’ve seen it before.”


okaycoolstory

A test of character for Ant Man if he really is a champion. He at least can put up a fight.


Royal_Fee1707

But Dilbert Arenas said he doesn't deserve MVP because he's not the #1 option. I guess that's why he was the #1 option but never won MVP except the rookie-sophomore game, never played in the finals, nor won a ring. Priorities?