Nikola Jokic is known for many things, but his dunking ability is not one of them. The Denver Nuggets star decided to give fans a rare treat on Tuesday night when he threw down a dunk near Victor Wembanyama, and he had a funny message for the rookie phenom afterward.
Jokic and Wembanyama battled on both ends of the court during Denver’s 110-105 victory over the Spurs. Jokic finished with a game-high 42 points and had 16 rebounds and 6 assists. Wembanyama scored 23 points to go along with 15 rebounds, 8 assists and a whopping 9 blocks.
One of Wembanyama’s blocks came during a highly entertaining sequence midway through the first quarter. Wembanyama scored a driving layup on Jokic and then blocked the reigning NBA Finals MVP’s shot on the other end of the floor. Jokic responded with a dunk near Wembanyama. You can see all the action below:
This Wemby and Jokić sequence 😱😂 pic.twitter.com/aTL3xsEzO7
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 3, 2024
In his postgame press conference, Jokic was asked if he said anything to Wembanyama after the dunk. He joked that he warned Wembanyama about blocking his shots but that the No. 1 overall still did it a few more times throughout the night.
“I told him if he blocked one more shot I’m gonna … something,” Jokic said. “But he blocked like four after that, so I didn’t do anything about it.”
Nikola Jokić was asked if he said anything to Victor Wembanyama after dunking on him.
He said he told Wemby: "If you block one more shot, I'm gonna…"
"But he blocked like four after that, so I didn't do anything about it." pic.twitter.com/dVqQ3W4lww
— Matt Brooks (@MattBrooksNBA) April 3, 2024
Wembanyama’s incredible wingspan is one of the many things that sets him apart from other players. That seemed like Jokic’s way of acknowledging that even he had a difficult time adjusting to it.
It is only a matter of time before Wembanyama wins a Defensive Player of the Year award, and he recently had a great quote about that. The 20-year-old probably has Jokic’s vote after what we saw on Tuesday.
