Like any other else, D’Angelo Russell has Nikola Jokic at the top of his best player on the world list.
In his recent appearance on the “Pat Bev Podcast” with Rone, Russell pointed at Jokic on why the Nuggets rightfully gets the general respect from everyone as the NBA champions.
“Yeah, they got the best player in basketball,” Russell said. “They got the best player in basketball on that team. No disrespect to nobody, he’s the best player in the NBA right now. Not even close.”
He added: “Jokic, I said it like two years ago. I was like “How do you guard him?” How do you guard somebody that don’t even wants the ball. I ain’t gonna say he don’t want the ball, but he don’t care…”
Jokic’s masterful 2022-23 season has put him atop of everyone’s choice as the current best player in the NBA. The superstar big man went on to rally Denver to its first-ever league championship with one of the great individual runs by a player in this modern era.
This notion from Russell can’t even be denied since he saw how invincible Jokic was during their Conference Finals encounter. In the four-game sweep made by the Nuggets against the Lakers, the Serbian center averaged a monstrous 27.8 points, 14.5 boards, 11.8 assists in 50.6 percent shooting – tearing Los Angeles with his offensive excellence and jaw-breaking plays.
While there’s still the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Luka Doncic, Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler in contention for the highly recognition, it is just rightful to crown Jokic as the best as of the moment.
