Lakers Player Gets Honest About Nikola Jokic

Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt has played with and against the Denver Nuggets star
Lakers Player Gets Honest About Nikola Jokic
Lakers Player Gets Honest About Nikola Jokic /

Los Angeles Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt has played with and against Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic. Getting his start in the NBA with Denver in 2018, Vanderbilt did not play many minutes for the Nuggets, but had an opportunity to see Jokic up close every single day.

Recently joining the Run Your Race podcast, Vanderbilt got honest about the greatness he saw in Jokic before the Nuggets star became a champion and two-time league MVP.

"He was just different," Vanderbilt said. "Once he realized how nice he was, and the impact he could do, when he was there he was always just super nice. But they were kinda pushing him like, go get MVP... Once he got to realizing he could do that sh-t, it was over with at that point. "

Other former Nuggets have revealed similar stories, speaking about how Jokic's unselfish nature often kept him from realizing his own dominant capabilities. While this is of course one of Jokic's strengths, the Nuggets star now has a better sense of when to pick his spots and when to be unselfish.

The consensus best player in the NBA, Jokic defeated Vanderbilt and the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals before defeating the Miami Heat for the first Nuggets championship in franchise history. According to Vanderbilt, the greatness Jokic showed during the 2023 playoffs was evident years ago.

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Joey Linn
JOEY LINN

Title: Credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation Email: joeylinn52@gmail.com Education: Communication Studies degree from Biola University Location: Los Angeles, California Expertise: NBA analysis and reporting Experience: Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA for Sports Illustrated's FanNation. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined Sports Illustrated's FanNation to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams during his time in school. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts, combined with his excellence in the classroom, earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time across multiple platforms, primarily serving as a credentialed Clippers beat writer.