He truly has to be, only Lebron maybe just because of him living up to actually being a serious GOAT player.

We need Air Gordon back bad. Most the games we lost cause of bad rim protection wouldn’t be close with my glorious king out there. 

As a Jokic stan I wouldn’t say he’s above average at defense, he’s just not terrible which so many people argue.

“He can’t stay in front of guards!” “He can’t stop Giannis!” No shit, which big men can do any of these things? Using Wemby or peak AD as the bar is silly.

He’s got about the 320th defensive rating in the NBA out of ~650 players (~580 who have played 10 minutes or more). He’s not a shot blocker but he’s fine, slightly below average for a starting C.

Saying he’s an “above average defender” doesn’t mean he blocks a lot of shots though. There are players who average below 0.5 blocks who are very good defenders.

Can confirm. There are plenty of times you see him just allow a bucket at the rim without contesting since there’s just no point in it, just the chance to rack up a foul.

He’s fine at most other aspects of defense, though. I get how that sounds given that traditionally you want your center to be a rim protector. But in the modern era with spacing and everything (and the calls that offensive players get), it’s harder and harder to rely on rim protection without a truly elite guy like wemby.

So the natural scheme you want to build around jokic - preventing the penetration to the paint in the first place - is already a pretty solid baseline to start from. A huge amount of this is gonna be on the shoulders of your guards and wings with POA defense. But jokic does hold his own here when he’s at the level hedging screens and such.

And of course he’s an elite rebounder, which is obviously important in terms of ending offensive possessions but somehow still underrated as a defensive skill.

Jokic “stans.”

You mean just people with basketball knowledge

He is a bad rim protector, but you dont understand that he has one of the lowest foul rates among rim protectors. Thats the real way he gains some value on that end, he limits the most efficient form of offense (free throws) by rarely ever fouling on defense.

Out of the 1000s of year the sport putting a ball into something, Jokic is top 251 in blocks. Thats huge

Can’t just post anything for fun, it has to be an ulterior motive /s

But that’s the point. It’s not that surreal to match a player who is like 5” inches shorter, with maybe 9” shorter reach, who doesn’t jump, and doesn’t even try to block almost ever.

They’re bringing up Jokic to capitalize off his name like it’s some milestone, because it feels like matching Jokic in something must mean he’s good.

But in reality, it’s like getting excited when Josh Allen passes Tom Brady in total career rushing yards. Who gives a shit, Tom Brady was a GOAT QB, but couldn’t run for shit.

I’m not sure those two things are mutually exclusive.

I mean… by definition, it’s a comparison. We’re literally comparing Jokic and Wemby block numbers.

I don’t think it’s necessarily a Jokic specific thing, I see stats that are straight up wrong on here fairly often. It’s just a shame that no one verifies anything

Breaking news, the Oklahoma City Thunder set multiple records as they go 0-0 from the field for the entire game, losing by a record 114 points. In other news, superstar Victor Wembanyama misses the NBA blocks record for a season by 2 blocks.

Shai Gilgeous Alexander maintains his 20 point streak as he goes 24-27 at the stripe, oddly enough getting a few extra free throws by being fouled while sitting on the bench.

This guy loves swatting balls.

you had just as many interceptions as the Jets last year

Also Thunder fans: “Why are we getting so much hate?”

The 6’6 MVP who plays PG has never averaged over 6 assists iirc for reference

Edit: 7 assists

And the 6’6 MVP didn’t average 10 assists as a PG while the 6’11 center did. The 6’6 MVP didn’t have a better 3pt percentage than the 6’11 center, or effective FG percentage, and barely scored more while shooting more on worse effiency. Oh and the 6’11 center’s advanced stats are better too.

Some of us are stuck exaggerating 3 inches. You’re just over here living the dream.

I think I was just saying in the post that Jokic isn’t a rim protector

The best player to not get an MVP in his career is not a real bet. It’s subjective and would take 10-15 years to payout