One former Los Angeles Lakers great recently gave Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic the ultimate compliment.
Jokic played like a true MVP in Game 1 of his Western Conference first-round playoff series to lead the Nuggets to a 114-103 win over the Lakers at Ball Arena in Denver, Colo. Jokic tallied 32 points to go along with 12 rebounds and 7 assists on 15/23 shooting during Saturday’s win.
After the game, Hall-of-Famer James Worthy appeared on the Spectrum SportsNet postgame show. Worthy compared Jokic to two players that Lakers fans have probably heard of.
“To me, [Jokic] is Magic Johnson and Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] on the floor at the same time,” said Worthy. “He’s a guard. He makes great decisions. Hell of a passer. And then when he wants to be Kareem, he goes down and dominates. He’s a special player that does a lot of things.”
Worthy is one of the few people on earth who have the standing to make such a lofty comparison. The North Carolina alum played seven years alongside both Magic and Kareem. Worthy also won three championships as the third star behind the two all-time greats.
Jokic on Sunday was named as one of the three finalists for the 2023-24 NBA MVP award. Jokic, who’s widely considered the favorite to win the award, could potentially have three MVP trophies at season’s end.
The 2023-24 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player finalists pic.twitter.com/N71bEg4Q5V
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) April 21, 2024
Jokic would join just eight players — including Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar — who have won at least three NBA MVP awards.
