FIRST TAKE | Nikola Jokic is scariest player in playoffs! – Stephen A.: West should FEAR the Nuggets

FIRST TAKE | Nikola Jokic is scariest player in playoffs! – Stephen A.: West should FEAR the Nuggets

best record in the NBA. The Thunder stormed their way through the playoffs. They swept the first round, 1-7 against Denver, and dominated the Wolves in the conference finals. The Pacers put up a strong fight, but ultimately fell in game seven. And the Thunder won their first championship for Oklahoma City. Do everything defensive forward Lou Dort was asked to reflect on the run yesterday on NBA Today. What were the moment or moments that you guys were most nervous? Like who what team had you guys a little bit like uh oh this our season could be really on the line here?
Yeah, I would say uh Denver Nuggets was the one that um you know have us had us shaking a little bit. You know they’ve been they’ve been they won before and been in those type of position.
So um you know it was you know they they did a great job as well responding and all that. I’m amused by Lou Dort sitting there looking like he’s wearing a referees when anybody who plays against the Thunder knows that Lou likes to try to flop and sell calls to the referees all the time. So that was that was a good good wardrobe choice there by Lou.
So as he told Danny Green and George Shano there, David Dennis Jr. is Joic the scariest player in the postseason in the playoffs.
Absolutely. If you if you’re the Thunder, like what you saw there was a guy who got you to seven games when his team was falling apart around him. And no matter how good that team was, when Jokic has the ball in his hands, it is absolutely terrifying to think about what can happen to your team. Like he can break you down. He can find ways to score, he will put up 40, 15, and eight or whatever kind of monstrous number no matter what defense you put in front of them. I remember a couple of few years ago, uh, the Warriors were playing in the first round. There was no Jamal Murray. They were up 3-1 and I was like, I don’t know if Jokus Jokus might be able to do this thing because it’s like get this dude out of here as fast as you can because you just never know what he can do.
I was having this conversation with people during the playoffs and to me Nicole Joic has replaced LeBron James as the inevitable force in the NBA where when you watch a game and Joic is playing, you just expect his team to win. You expect him to figure out some way to manipulate the game in a way where he is just going to get it done. He makes these floaters like this where he just flips them in from everywhere. He’s like batting in shots from 80 feet away from the basket. He just makes the incredible plays look routine all the time. And look, we’ve talked about the way the teams have to build around stars and what the Lakers need to do with LeBron, what the Bucks need to do with Giannis. The last two years, the Denver Nuggets were a game seven away from, I think, winning the championship both years. And it’s really just because of this guy and his ability to do things that just we’ve never seen anybody else do, let alone do in the league right now. So yeah, I I think he’s the most inevitable force in the league. And I know from being around the Thunder, they were very relieved to get through that series as Lou said and and actually survive and advance because they were not sure they were going to all the way to the end.
All right, I’m not going to say I disagree with you. I completely agree with both of you on Yokic, right? Like I will say that, but this show is about arguing and and debating and everything else. I had to come up with another name and the obvious other name I can think of is Steph Curry.
Oh, you’re not going to argue for me about that one. Steph Curry is still one of the baddest men in basketball, especially come playoff time because playoff games are usually close and late game situations are the ones that scare you the most when it comes to him. Because you talk about a guy that finds a way to create a shot or get a shot off and a team that certainly knows how to find him and somehow someway you’re like, how the hell did Steph Curry get open for that? There are shots he has made throughout his career that just make you say to yourself, that’s incredible. like the incredible moments he has had in the playoffs and what you said earlier that the Warriors why did they why were why why didn’t they not get to the conference finals because he got hurt otherwise he was the difference between them going to at least the final four or not that’s how good he is that’s how scary he is and that’s why to me he’s also right there with Joic as a scary guy that you would not want to face in the playoffs
none of you are wrong but you’re not as right as another answer because when you look at it Jokic is the best player in the sport I understand that Steph Curry is the player in the sport that I’d want on my team to start a team over anyone else. SGA is the MVP and LeBron’s the second greatest player of all time. Over the last 15 years in the NBA, we’ve had two dynastic teams really. We’ve had the Heat Big Three and we’ve had the Warriors and one guy has stopped them both.
One guy, Kawhi Leonard, when healthy is the scariest player in the postseason. I’ll tell you why.
Oh boy. off that list that we just Joic and Steph when healthy. One guy can get you 30 and one guy can guard the best player on the other team regardless of who that is and hold them to under 15. One guy, he’s never healthy. I understand that. But we’re talking about scary. You’re going to tell me another coach is not scared of Steph of Kawhi Leonard? Absolutely. If Kawi Leonard is healthy, he’s the best offensive player in a game in a playoff game potentially and the best defensive player in a playoff game. And none of these other guys you just mentioned can be classified that way. I’m gonna start with you Alan because you made actual points I want to uh build on because they were actually good points. We’re talking about we’re talk like Steph Kurt I’m I’m totally with you.
I love the dynamic here by the way. This is four days in the making.
I I you know Steph Kurt I am totally with you. What school did he go to? David Davis College. Thank you very much. Steph Curry what he does is he breaks defenses down. He breaks your will to what he did to that Rockets team that was hounding him from beginning to end and by the end of they thought they were going to beat him up. They thought they and they could not do anything about it. And what we saw against in Boston that game four against Boston, one of the best final performance I’ ever seen. Kawhi Leonard. I’m that is that is madness. I I just watched Kawhi Leonard in game seven lay an egg.
You just talked about game
I just saw I just saw him do that before that the last time he was healthy. I saw him in the bubble blow a lead against the Denver Nuggets then. Right in game seven. I’ve seen Kawhi fail in game seven. He hasn’t won a championship in six years. And the idea that Kawhi Leonard stopped that Miami Heat dynasty when he was part of a team that was just one of the great teams when he was he was not a Kawhi Leonard. It was not Kawhi Leonard by himself. It was not Kawhi Ler by himself.
But the last thing is is when you said if he’s healthy. That’s an if that wouldn’t fit in this building.
There’s a gigantic if when it But we’re presuming health for this argument. I’m I saw health and they lost the game 73.
Coming up. Do you think we’ve had some wild debates? And I understand that everybody wants to to paint these like how we’re all it’s all equal, right? We have parody in the NBA now. It’s all equal. Wherever he goes, it’s the equal amount of of intensity of coverage, the equal amount of juice into the story, the equal amount of chance to win. Stop it. New York is the best place for LeBron James to try to win one more championship because they are set up and also the East is set up with all the things that have happened in the East. You have the best opportunity to win here. You could say Cleveland too, but been there, done that. We’ve already seen that story. LeBron, if he wants the story, if he wants to to go gloriously into that good night, it would be here in Gotham.
You’re a New Yorker. Are you into this?
I mean, it’d be nice to have home games in June instead of being on the road for three weeks like I was this past month. Um, but look, LeBron James had a chance to pick his destination to give him the best chance to win a title. And that was on Sunday when he opted could have opted out of his contract and been a free agent. Could have gone back home, signed with the Cavs, could have signed with the Knicks, could have gone to Dallas, could have done whatever he wanted. Instead, he took the money, stayed with the Lakers, and that has severely limited his ability to go anywhere if he wants to. We will, as you have said, Dan, multiple times, there is this chatter going on this week because of the statement Rich Paul put out and the uncertainty that is injected into what shouldn’t be a very uncertain situation given he has agreed to be on the Lakers next season and we have not heard anything from the Lakers brass about what their plans are for LeBron James for next season and then in response to this Rich Paul statement. However, again, by taking that option while having a no trade clause while making $52.6 $6 million. There is it’s very hard to see a path for LeBron to be anywhere else realistically than playing next to Luca Donic this fall with the Lakers and that is not a team that is good enough to win a title.
Bobby, is there such a path if he does want out if he makes an issue of it? Is there a way to get him to say the Knicks?
Well, I mean I think there’s two ways to do it. I mean certainly there’s the buyout way, right? If if if the Lakers were willing to go in that direction as far as buying him out of his contract, then I would agree with Allen. Yes, New York would be probably the best fit if the goal was to go win a championship. Now that the the trade market becomes a little bit more complicated because we’ve got all these complicated rules in the apron and certainly for New York, the only path would be trading Carl Anthony Towns. That’s really it. Then you’re if you’re trying to trade OG and Obi and Male Bridges, you now you’re starting to really deplete your roster and you’re taking two or three players away here. So listen, I would never say never to anything. I’ve been around this for 30 years, so I would never dismiss anything here, but it does become more complic becomes more complicated when we get into the regular season when the rules get a little more tighten. As long as we’re in a theoretical world here, Tim McMahon, like do you buy what Allen Han is selling here about uh the idea of LeBron should want to go to the Knicks to pursue a title? Listen, who needs worldwide West to recruit and tamper when you’ve got Allen Han? Okay, that he’s laying out a hell of a pitch. Come to New York. Uh I mean, the city that never sleeps. He’s singing all all the Sinatra, all that kind of stuff. He’s right. But again, explain to me why would the Lakers cooperate with this? Why would the Lakers pay LeBron James dozens of millions of dollars to go play on the East Coast, to go play for somebody else? That’s the part that doesn’t make sense for me. LeBron as a buyout guy if he gets that. Playing for the Knicks. Sure. Sounds like a great idea for the Knicks. For LeBron, not for the Lakers. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, You entertain mech. Huh? Okay. Getchech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Foreign speech. Hello.

FIRST TAKE | Nikola Jokic is scariest player in playoffs! – Stephen A.: West should FEAR the Denver Nuggets