Nikola Jokic earned a lot of respect from basketball fans around the world this spring for leading the Denver Nuggets to their first NBA championship. Joker’s performance in the playoffs is something to be applauded. He filled up the stat sheet, averaging 30.0 points, 13.5 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game while shooting 54.8% from the field and 46.1% from deep.
He led the program by winning the Finals MVP award after Denver defeated the Miami Heat in five games.
Jokic recently received praise from fellow European Basketball Hall of Famer Toni Kukoc. Kukoc predicts that the Nuggets star will become one of the best players statistically on the continent.
“He’s great, I talked about him five or six years ago. I like his style, with his basketball knowledge and IQ, it makes up for his lack of physicality. He keeps the game at his own pace, you don’t notice it. His career isn’t even 50%. Is he statistically the best player in Europe?
Kukoc himself had a pretty good career, winning three championships with the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls in the late 1990s. He averaged 11.6 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists. ​created every game across 13 NBA seasons. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.
