Charles Barkley explains why Jokić has the edge over Wemby to start the season:
“We just take [Nikola Jokić] for granted, he is the best basketball player in the world.”
is this the first time Shaq actually defended Wemby, usually he says he is Bol Bol
Yeah he’s coming around and praising him more. Part of it is to discredit Jokic though, as Chuck said. Shaq is clearly insecure about him
Shaq is so full of rage about how Jokic doesn’t respond to his hate
Shaq is petty/jealous on the reg
You can take out “on the reg”. They’re a core part of his genetic makeup.
Dude is larger than life and more successful than id be in 3 lifetimes, but he still got that little d energy lol
Well even with a normal six and a half, think of how small that would look on Shaq
My theory is that he spent the first 20 years of his life dealing with a world that couldn’t accomodate his size. Like people switching sidewalks to avoid him, toilets being too small, shoes costing more, etc.
And thus, his resentment towards being born a giant unrelatable freak still holds strong to this day.
Being beaten on the regular by his dad probably didn’t help either
Kind of shitty of him. He keeps stirring the pot. When he kicks the bucket, he’ll be remembered as a mouthpiece for haters
What’s up with the italics? Are you calling him a shitty stirring bucket mouthpiece?
Jason Richardson says Shaquille O’Neal once took a Lou Amundson’s mouthpiece and put it in his butt, then took a toothbrush and stirred it in his poop.
He would also shit in a bucket and pour it on rookies’ heads
Lmao jfc Shaq is bitch
Wtf
Not one mf’er on that team wanted to give dude the heads up?
Probably scared of Shaq shitting on them in revenge
https://youtu.be/6lQW-FWMcBo?si=89kd3OgAIGqqB_3N kinda gives his song about Kobe some new meaning
Shaq poured his poop on teammates.
That’s not it, he’s just jealous Joker has 2 more MVPs than him.
It can be multiple things
more like multiple rings, right erneh
Why would he be jealous when he has “more rings Erneh”?
Imagine Jokic had Kobe
Swapping Jokic/Shaq with the Lakers(2000)/Nuggets(2023) gives you perspective on how impactful and versatile Jokic can be.
And DWade
Kobe would average 40 with Jokics’ gravity in this era
Ya wait til Wemby has 3-4 MVPs and people rate him over Shaq and he’ll start shitting on him like he does with Jokic
I think Joker has such an unusual game it befuddles centers from the past. They were either power players or block shot menaces. A guy who shots 3s , has a ridiculous soft touch inside , and passes better than 95 percent of the NBA is beyond description.
Joker is what Sabonis in his prime would have been. Even old Sabonis gave Shaq fits.
Jokic reminding Shaq of Sabonis might be the best explanation for the hate
And doing that while being bigger and stronger than the majority of all players.
Don’t think he’s personally jealous of him but he seems to do this to every big who is doing well. It doesn’t make sense cause he’s one of the best big man of all time.
He’s infamous for throwing his shit at teammates, wiping his ass with their towels, sticking toothbrushes up his ass and leaving them out to be used later.
A lotta things than insecure, tiny, big-man does don’t make sense.
So narcissist, degenerate and potential sociopath?
Because he’s not the best big man of all time he’s just one of
Had all the opportunities to be the GOAT, decided to be fat & lazy.
He claims he purposely does that to motivate them into becoming better. Who in his right mind believes Jokic needs Shaq to motivate himself?
I have to imagine he saw jokic pretty explicitly praise the prime show over TNTs usual interview, where he gets spoken to in Russian or called a slovokian on the regular by Shaq
I gotta be honest, I see Shaq’s insecurities on full display quite often. I didn’t get that here. Genuinely sounds like he’s making the point that it’s closer than Chuck’s making it out to be and the top tier of talent in the NBA is extremely competitive across multiple players. He goes out of his way to not discredit Joker while defending Wemby then Chuck tries to bait him into a sound bite.
Shaq is tripping.
Jokic has averaged a triple double for 2+ seasons now. He’s putting up 26/13/11 in his first 10 games here. He’s top two in MVP voting for 5 straight years, winning 3. He’s played 69+ games every one of his 10 seasons. He’s won 51-43 playoff games, compared to Wemby who has won 48 total NBA games.
You’re putting Wemby on his level after a hot start of 10 games? Please.
The discussion was mvp of this season.
yea he didn’t said a single negative thing about Joker in this clip, even when Chuck tries to bait something out of him. You can tell he actually respect his game cuz Joker doesn’t stand around and shoot 3s and be passive which is what Shaq hates about a lot of centers. He does everything which is what makes him so good of a player.
Shaq has generally been pretty positive about Jokic, at least historically.
shaq is just insecure so his opinion wavers depending on his mood and if it validates him
But now Jokic is entering the GOAT center debates and that threatens Shaq and the centers that Shaq respects (even though those centers probably don’t mind, Shaq does).
Entering? Even Shaq said Joker is a Top 5 Center
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/khOrOHKbKFM
Top 5 & GOAT aren’t the same thing
ppl here only remember the MVP moment about SGA, but if you watch nba on tnt the past a few years, Shaq gave joker more credit than he did to any other center in the league
Yup spot on. He’s not defending Wemby cause he genuinely wants to, he just isn’t a fan of Jokic
Shaq became insecure when Jokic won his third MVP and was still a runner-up in a close race last year. It is going to be the same with Wemby if Wemby finds similar success.
Yeah it’s pretty obvious lol
Shaq will give any excuse to shit on Jokić
Joker apparently knows you kill your haters with kindness.
Pisses Shaq off that Joker won’t even respond, and Joker said the other day that the Prime crew was better than Inside.
Shaq must be WAYYY in his feelings right now.
Shaq has praised Jokic in the past, so I don’t think that’s true
He told Jokic to his face that he didn’t deserve the 2024 MVP
He can only praise Wemby if he’s simultaneously shitting on Joker.
I can’t stand it whenever he brings up Bol Bol.
Anybody with a brain can see Wemby is a better ball handler, shooter, finisher & defender but Shaq will swear on his life that Bol is just not being used properly and that he could be doing what Wemby is doing.
It’s takes like those that make me not care if somebody played in the NBA or not when I’m evaluating how accurate their bball analysis is.
His only worse take is saying coaching doesn’t matter.
If Wemby was not french I highly doubt he’d defend him lol
I mean he viscerally hates Rudy Gobert so idk if that’s it
I bet Shaq is seething knowing Jokic doesn’t give a single fuck about what Shaq thinks of him.
Jokic got interviewed by the Amazon crew post-game a few nights ago. He seemed to genuinely enjoy and I believe part of the reason is he didn’t have to listen to Shaq disrespect him and his native language.
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/Mw7VvQCStX
He literally said “This is much better” lmao, he just dgaf bout Shaq
I mean the guy told him to his face he didn’t deserve his MVP
Lmao what a tool. Reminds me of when 21 year old Luka made a buzzer beating game winner 3pt shot in Game 4 against the Clippers in the playoffs and Shaq literally said, “that’s not impressive. i’ve seen that before.”
Like BRO! What kind of reaction/analysis even is that??😂😂
edit: oh yeah, also Luka dropped 43/17/13 in that game too
Wait the fuck lol
I mean, Jokic is clearly a better player right now.
Which makes sense — he’s in his prime and on a team built around him, Wemby is 21 and on a team that’s a bit of an odd collection of pieces.
I actually think they’re making a pretty nice team around him honestly. They’re just not polished yet
Agreed. If it’s anything we’ve learned about OKC constantly winning, the right plug and play players are what matters. Not the big names.
I’d argue it’s the big names with good pieces around them. SGA is the reigning MVP of the league NBA you’ll always need the guy in the NBA and then to surround him with talent there’s only a few championship teams in history that break this mold.
That team is one of the best in the league without SGA imo
Take SGA off that team and put any half decent ball handler, that team still goes 45-50 wins.
They’re 12-1 without their 2nd best player who was All-NBA, All-Star, and All-Defense last season.
We can thank the Clippers for the monster they’ve created.
Wym. Wemby and Churos are a match made in heaven
Its the longest dessert
Also a long breadstick hon hon.
Sir Charles said the mavs are the 2nd best team in the west opening night: so whatever he says is pretty much opposite of the truth
Yeah are we already crowning wemby the best player in the world? Like 10 games in to his 3rd year after not playing most of last year and having some inconsistencies this year offensively?
I thought by the end of the year he’d be top 5 or so but this is early
The top 4 of Jokic, Giannis, Shai, Luka is hard to crack this early even if wemby gets 5 blocks per game and is an alien… we need consistency
That’s the thing about sports fans is they just jump their favorite ahead. When did Wemby surpass Shai or Giannis or Luka to even be in the discussion with Jokic? It didn’t happen, and it doesn’t happen, they just send their guy right for the #1 spot and think that arguing about it incessantly makes it correct.
We usually give injured players a year of grace, so I’d say I haven’t seen Wemby consistently show me he’s better than Tatum was last year either
I don’t think it’s crazy to put Wemby in top 5 atm even with his offensive struggles a few games ago. Personally I’d say Jokic >= Giannis >= Shai > Luka >= Wemby
luka is with those other three, but above wemby.
he is average 40 right now.
It’s crazy man, I mean it’s 10 games in and wemby has still had games where he’s awful on offense. The media push for him is becoming ridiculous
“Better” is very generous word to use here. Jokic is a level above all other MVP contenders, and is at least two levels above Wemby.
I got downvoted to hell for saying that I think he got robbed for MVP by SGA. I still believe it.
You are speaking the truth. He also got robbed by Embiid once.
Yeah hes been the best player in the nba for half a decade now. Wemby has a lot to prove to get there.
Shaq interrupted him and then attacked an argument chuck didn’t make lmao
“I hate when you do that…don’t discredit what Wemby’s doing”
Bruh, Chuck wasn’t even talking about that lol
Yeah when tf is Wemby getting just 10pts 10reb lmao
I think, Monday, Nov 3rd, 2025, Wemby scored 9 points, 9 rebounds and 6 turnover vs Phoenix
Wait didn’t he just have a game like that like a week ago?
Shaq confirmed redditor.
He’s fragile, lazy, and gay?
Hey man, I may be lazy and gay but I certainly ain’t fragile
Bruh, with all do respect, this is Shaq EVERY OTHER NIGHT. My mans can’t keep his own opinion straight
due
The insecurity of this 50+ year old man is crazy
classic Shaq
Shaq being sensitive about Jokic part 200
How many rings you got pal?
Shaq was definitely the intellectual here, even dropped the whole ‘don’t move the goal post’… Chuck switched gears at the end to wrap up the segment with some levity like a pro
Why does Barkley look like a kid in his father’s suit
Mounjaro iirc. He was on manningcast the other week promoting it.
Is that just another kind of ozempic or is it something different?
They’re all GLP-1 and do mostly the same thing.
It’s better than ozempic
Ozempic was GLP-1 only
Mounjaro is GLP-1 and GIP
Basically GIP also keeps blood sugar stable
So “better”
There’s nuance to it, which I posted for additional context.
Tirazeptide is indicated for glucose/insulin control as well as weight loss. as it is a GIP/GLP-1 agonist. The brands are Zepbound and Mounjaro.
Ozempic/Wegovy is semaglutide and is only a GLP-1 agonist. More of a pure weight control medicine, though it also can help with A1C and glucose levels through overall weightloss and control of metabolic syndrome.
Another question. What is “iirc”?
If I recall correctly.
If I Reek of Cannabis
If i recall correctly
Of all celebs he needs to live longer.
Ozempic
I feel like this could also be said about Giannis though. People seem to take for granted that he’s one of the best defenders. Wembanyama is fitting into that tier of player very nicely though.
Do you think that is a byproduct of them both being so consistently good as opposed to wemby who is the fresh new kid on the block? We are so lucky there are so many entertaining unique players.
Exactly this.
There was a stretch during the 90s where media were constantly pitching players as Jordan’s rival, or the next Jordan, simply because there was nothing left to say or write about MJ. He was on the top of the basketball mountain, everyone knew that, but they just wanted to talk about something else.
There are only so many times you can say ‘Jokic is a phenomenal, all time great player and does so many things so well, we are privileged to watch him’ before it gets boring. It may be the truth, but after a certain point the same old truth doesn’t generate as many clicks as novelty.
For what its worth I feel like Jokic has very quietly reached another level as a player from late last season onwards. He’s not necessarily putting up more numbers, because his numbers are already basically as many points, rebounds and assists as a human being can reliably average in a 48 minute game of basketball, but he’s somehow found another level of efficiency in how he is getting those numbers.His shot selection and decision making seem better and its reflected in his utterly otherworldly TS%.
Most definitely. They’re so consistent we just get used to them doing what they do, forgetting that they’re practically the only people who can actually even do it.
100%, they might even publicly push the Wemby MVP narrative just because they want to break the d rose record and Wemby is this generation’s LeBron, if he’s in a top 6 seed and good stats I’m sure they will jump on it, despite Jokić numbers who already has multiple MVP so he’ll face voter’s fatigue (not saying it’s right)
This is always how it goes. Jordan should’ve been unanimous MVP every year he played in the 90s. LBJ was hands down the best regular season player from Miami through end of second Cavs stint. The most annoying part is it keeps getting worse, because they didn’t want to give LBJ more MVPs than Jordan, so he has fewer than he should, and now they’re not going to want to give anyone more than LBJ unless they have at least as many chips and finals MVPs
Giannis is taken for granted way more it’s getting close to Lebron levels. It’s his 4th straight season averaging 30 on 60% shooting and only thing anyone wants to talk about is Jokic/Luka/Wemby. Even SGA gets more love than Giannis and he been at this peak longer than all of them.
I personally consider Jokic and Giannis to be 1A and 1B. Agree with you that he’s underrated.
I think one major issue is that Giannis has been injured in the playoffs twice, which has kinda made media attention to slide off of him.
He needs a deep playoff run for people to start talking about him again.
Huge Jokic fan here. You’re right, I don’t understand how Gianni’s doesn’t get the attention he deserves. Like Jokic, there never been anyone like him. He and Jokic are clearly 1a and 1b and then it’s a huge gap to the 3rd best. Small market/European prejudice.
I also think he’s overlooked because the Bucks haven’t made a deep playoff run in awhile. Obviously that’s not his fault (fuck injuries), but it means he hasn’t been seen as much when it matters the most.
Agreed.
The last few years I’ve been ayint defense for Giannis’ legacy because people are forgetting he won MVP DPOY and FMVP with Khris Middleton as his second best player.
People forget Giannis was the defense that year too
I think it’s the 3 consecutive first round exits.
Looking at the series it’s impossible to blame Giwnnis for that directly.
He’s far from.vlameless but you’d have to be even less than a box score watcher to see Giannis distinctly below jokic for that.
So many of my fav sports have boomed in fans becoming fans in the last couple years.
Formula 1, NBA, and NFL seem to be plagued by people who never watched before 2020-2022 ish
Not sure what your point is. What I said isn’t about whether Giannis is to blame for those exists, just that not making it to later rounds of the playoffs is part of the reason he seems to be overlooked recently.
Do they even mention Giannis in this video? They mention Jokic, Wemby, Luka, SGA… Giannis has a legitimate case for being the best of all of them, and he gets so little respect.
It’s because the league and the media are conspiring to force him out of Milwaukee
you cant be in the giannis/Jokic/SGA tier while having never played a playoff game
Two of those guys are top 20 all time already and still in their prime and the other is already top 5 in his position all time
Even if you removed all past experience and accolades, just watching this season, you’d have to say there’s a sizeable margin between Jokic, SGA, Giannis, and Luka - and anyone else, including Wemby. But I’d rank him next, above Ant and Steph right now
If you told me after Giannis’ second MVP win he would still be stuck at two in the year 2025, I would call you a liar. It’s wild we have seen enough talent in the league for Giannis to not be LeBron 2.0.
Who the fuck doesnt have Jokic as the best player?
Nico Harrison
Maybe Nico just thinks Jrue Holiday is the best player in the NBA
Bro. Nico had budgets bigger than the whole nba when he was in business. He doesn’t need this shit
I’ve fumbled bigger bags - Nico Harrison
I mean Giannis has an argument
The lack of Giannis respect never ceases to amaze me. Every year it’s like he’s third or something.
It also feels like some people still refuse to acknowledge the impact of being a 2 way player and how incredible important defense is. For me players like Giannis and Shai need to be valued more accurately due to that.
3 is really good
Perkins
😂 fuck that racist
Bucks fans
Wemby can be a Jokic tier player and it looks like he’s on his way, but to say he has the same impact RIGHT NOW is a reach, he has to do this consistently over seasons and have some deep playoff runs, preferably leaving with a chip at some point.
Consistency is king.
I remember Jokic having to cross so many fucking hurdles to even be called the best center in the league. And then Wemby comes and people crown him better than Jokic after 1st game of the season.
Wemby is basically considered alien physical potential, so he is given a chance immediately to perform because they know it will draw eyes. Jokic was just big barely known serbian drafted during a taco bell commercial who then changed the entire league with the realization of his raw IQ. Unfortunately first impressions are everything to the NBA drawing people’s eyes, and basketball game IQ is not appreciated by many fans. It really is as shallow as believing the most athletic moving and jumping players in their prime are the best entertainment. The more effortless Jokic gets the less he draws attention other than actual basketball nerds stunned at how efficient he has become.
jokic is a top 12 player ever. im sure wemby can reach the level but eye test+stat reads means he needs time
im not hating he just needs time
Common Chuck W
And Shaq L
Shaq hates Jokic more than he likes Wemby. He knows Jokic gonna be above him in all time standings by the time he’s finished.
exactly. rings aside, it’s just so plainly obvious that Jokic is the superior player. Probably the best center ever. Shaq knows this, so he feels the need to tear down Jokic any chance he gets. Or give him halfhearted, manufactured kudos
Jokic is like Magic, Larry, and Hakeem had a giant Serbian baby
“Hakeem”
On offense*
Dog, come on, this is stupid as hell. Yes, Shaq’s being an arrogant prick, but this Joker glaze is unreal.
Let Wemby earn it. He’s already better at 21 than any of the other MVP candidates were. No need to rush things
That is what’s crazy isn’t it?
Jokic Shai and Giannis were all just promising at that age. Wemby being in both DPOY and MVP discussions already is Bron level talent.
I’d have to check, I forget where Bron was in those rankings his first few yrs but it’s close iirc
LeBron was 2nd in MVP voting his 3rd season at 21 years old, then it was just top 4 or 5 MVP every single year until he landed in LA.
that is fucking insane
Doncic averaged 28/9/8 in his age 21 season
What a scrub. Not even averaging a triple double. His fat ass should be traded.
His point still stands
nah when charles said jokic woulda killed you to shaq hahahahaha
That was hilarious but the part about Wemby was even funnier to me.
“Wemby would have been hurting kids in the front row blocking your shots.”
My god how much weight did Chuck lose ?? Surely the brother can afford some new suits
“The edge” is crazy. There is a chasm of difference between the two.
For THIS season, right now through the 11 ish or so games, it’s…
Joker
Luka Giannis SGA
Wemby
And the rest
Now, in 3 to 4 more games that could change as so few games have been played.
Joker is the best player in the world now, has been for the past 5 or so years.
Wemby IS coming and fast. Dude is already a beast and he will turn into a monster.
I think Joker will win MVP this year but I think next years MVP race will be amazing.
The 5 players above next season will all have a realistic shot at the MVP.
I think this is a pretty good take here.
I don’t disagree with your take but I doubt Jokic is getting another MVP considering he already has 3 and the competition is pretty close. Going with the “MVP is largely a narrative based award” idea, its very possible Luka will get it considering he has 0 right now (against Shai’s 1, Giannis’ 2 and Jokic’s 3) and the league clearly wants to move the spotlight to the Lakers more.
Shaq the most insecure person in sports history
Remove Shaq, I’m tired of this.
If we’re being honest, Jokic is having a Lebron type peak in the last 5yrs, he’s put together GOAT level stretch of dominating the league. Only issue has been how uber competitive the Western Conference has been so he’s only won once so far
I’m just happy that Wemby at 21 yrs old is already in prime Jokic talks haha
Giannis and Jokic are so consistently excellent the media has to make up narratives and challenges to dethrone them. Shai is one year excellent year away from being perennial in “best in the world” conversations.
Shaq is mad that Joker is putting up numbers he never did and feels threatened in the all time rankings. He’ll switch up on wemby eventually when he starts winning MVPs and DPOYs too.
Jokic has the edge over Victor because he’s significantly outplaying Victor to this point.
Jokic has been Zeus on Mt Olympus for the last 6 years
what is with Shaq hatin all these great Centers 😂
Jokic currently has 52 points 11 rebounds 6 assists on 77% shooting.
Through 3 quarters on a 2nd night of a back to back.
lmao i usually always agree with Chuck but his take was all over the place
Jokic over Wemby? sure. SGA below Wemby? wtf lol
i’m a Spurs fan and I can even recognise that he’s behind SGA, Jokic and Luka
Charles also defended Nico Harrison earlier.
Post that clip OP!
Stupid ass Kenny and man child Shaq.
Lol then he puts up 55/12/6 on like 80% shooting
He’s absolutely correct. Wemby is playing great, Jokic is on a different level.
You people always underate defense, what Wemby is doing on defense right now has never been done in the history of the league, if he continues this defense he will go down as the undisputed best defender ever. You’re only looking at offense which Wemby is obviously not as good as Jokic or Shai or Luka but the crazy part is that hes not even THAT far behind either. The key to finding out who is better is ask are Jokic/SGA/Luka’s defense better than Wemby’s offense? If not then Wemby is doing better.
Shaq is pissed at Jokic because that recent ranking of best players this century put Jokic one spot over him.
Jokic > Shaq
Giannis is the most disrespected great man. To not even get in the convo here is just wrong. There’s like a highlight every time he gets scored on and otherwise y’all just ignore the man.
Also SenGOAT >>>>>>>>>>>>>
Love how giannis continues to get better and score more and defend just as good or better and people only talk about when and where he will be traded…
Damn this POPEYES advertising… 3 logos my gawd
Chuck making mad sense
I’m as big a Spurs fan as anyone and I have no issues with someone saying Jokic is the best basketball player in the world.
This aged well. Jokic stat line tonight 🤯
Love Victor, but he’s way to inconsistent right now. Good thing MVP isn’t decided in November.
Agreed. Jokic is a monster.
I mean yeah obviously Jokic is currently better than Wemby.
He’s a better scorer, a significantly better playmaker, is and much more consistent offensively.
Wemby’s defensive edge doesn’t outweigh Jokic’s offensive edge.
He ain’t lying. Jokic is doing video game number on a nightly basis. Wemby has his struggle.
Aannddd Jokic has 52 on 17-22 in 30 minutes