"Despite the statistics, Jokic isn’t at the level of [Vlade] Divac and Dino [Radja] in the center position”-Toni Kukoc

[Exp0sed]

Jokic could camp out at the 3 point line and force these centers to guard him out there instead of patrolling the paint like they're used to. Then run screens, exploit the switches, all the crazy things Joker can do. He's better than Vlade Divac in every facet of basketball in any era. The only thing Divac is better than is flopping.

He's the best Center in the world, Divac never came close to being that..that's all the comparison needed, regardless of era but rather relative to each own era - Jokic is much much higher than any of those guy

He'll be universally regarded as a top 15 ATG player when all is said and done, Kukoc making a fool out of himself tbh

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[liquidswords]

Straight to jail for that kind of NBA take. Especially from a former player lol

[Woodsanity]

Read on Twitter

I don't agree with Kukoc. However despite the hyperbole, I do think Jokic is benefits a lot in this small ball era. He would still be a great player no doubt, but I don't think he would look nearly as good as he does now if he was going up against the likes of Hakeem/David Robinson/Shaq/Duncan etc, or even the great defensive bigs like Mourning/Mutumbo/Eaton etc.

The current small ball era is less favorable to bigs not more favorable. It is highly favorable towards guard play.

All of them would be less effective defensively due having to guard the perimeter more and dealing with more pick & roll play.

You cannot shut down Jokic, he is a complete offensive player. None of those centers ever had to deal with a player with an inside game, outside game and elite passing ability.

Closest guy was Sabonis but he was already washed at that point.

[The Servant]

I don't think it is the stats, its the accolades and results:

1x Champion
1x FMVP
2x MVP
3x All NBA 1st Team

[Joao Saraiva]

I agree. He is miles ahead. Jokic is at a level these 3 combined could ony dream of.

[pilkoids]

Oh so Toni's an idiot

[ShootersShoot]

If Divac played today he’d be middle of the pack at best as a centre. Basically he’d be in a tier with guys like Nurkic, Ayton, Vucevic, Zubac, etc.

It’s funny looking back now and seeing how Divac is seen as this highly skilled big man from that time. Remember this is a guy who shot under 70% from the line for his career. Today he’d be in the lumbering oaf category with just enough skill to be useful in certain situations.

When he made the ASG playing for SAC, that was a bad era for centers. He made it averaging 12ppg. I don't think it was necessarily people thinking he was highly skilled, just that his passing ability was unique for a center at that time. If people thought he was truly that skilled, he would have made more all star teams.

[perempe20]

Watch on YouTube

Watch him from 2:57, this is his special move. He makes an alley-oop pass to Gordon, but saw him finish these as well with floaters.

[Billy Goat]

Ask Rick Pitino about Dino Radja lol. I remember when Dino asked to be traded to a playoff contender in a warm climate and Pitino told him that this wasn’t Club Med lol

[Snakebites]

This sort of absurdity is why we now have “we done with the 90s”. It’s a backlash against absurd claims like this.

The sword cuts both ways. You might say that there are fewer bigs that can guard a guy like Jokic. But the league is also way less forgiving of bigs that can’t defend in space or switch onto guards. Additionally, post play, despite the relative lack of bruising bigs, is normally less efficient than other forms of offense.

Jokic is so good he transcends all of that.

[ChiTownHero1992]

Love Toni Kukoc but wow that is a bad take right there haha

[Edrees]

YIKES. that one is pretty cringe and I say that as someone who does fully agree stats of today's players are inflated relative to 90s and 00s.

[ryguy613]

This is obviously laughable, but if he wanted to lend even a sliver of credibility to what he said, he would have gone with Sabonis instead of those guys. Jokic clears all of them but at least Sabonis was truly special. The two he mentioned were good but never great players.

[srhcan]

Read on Twitter

I don't agree with Kukoc. However despite the hyperbole, I do think Jokic is benefits a lot in this small ball era. He would still be a great player no doubt, but I don't think he would look nearly as good as he does now if he was going up against the likes of Hakeem/David Robinson/Shaq/Duncan etc, or even the great defensive bigs like Mourning/Mutumbo/Eaton etc.

Agreed. Jokic has become a bit overrated because of the era he is playing in. He has no business to be among top 5 centers list all-time if we be honest in our comparison.

[Clyde Frazier]

Read on Twitter

I don't agree with Kukoc. However despite the hyperbole, I do think Jokic is benefits a lot in this small ball era. He would still be a great player no doubt, but I don't think he would look nearly as good as he does now if he was going up against the likes of Hakeem/David Robinson/Shaq/Duncan etc, or even the great defensive bigs like Mourning/Mutumbo/Eaton etc.

I do.

I was also hoping this quote was from like... 2017 which would at least have been *understandable*. It's wild how unreasonable some of these former players are.

[SashimiLover]

Read on Twitter

I don't agree with Kukoc. However despite the hyperbole, I do think Jokic is benefits a lot in this small ball era. He would still be a great player no doubt, but I don't think he would look nearly as good as he does now if he was going up against the likes of Hakeem/David Robinson/Shaq/Duncan etc, or even the great defensive bigs like Mourning/Mutumbo/Eaton etc.

I think a less controversial take would be comparing Jokic to prime Arvydas Sabonis.

Young Arvydas Sabonis was a beast. It would be interesting to see his enter the league the year he was drafted (1986 instead of 1995) and play against the likes of Hakeem, Shaq in his early age.

With his perimeter shooting, variety of offensive moves, and playmaking skills, prime Sabonis would probably fare well in today's game

[Clyde Frazier]

Also, would it be *that* hard to instead say something like "people need to be more aware of what guys like vlade and dino did for the game worldwide, paving the way for star players like jokic." That's something to be celebrated as opposed to this BS take he gave.

[og15]

Read on Twitter

I don't agree with Kukoc. However despite the hyperbole, I do think Jokic is benefits a lot in this small ball era. He would still be a great player no doubt, but I don't think he would look nearly as good as he does now if he was going up against the likes of Hakeem/David Robinson/Shaq/Duncan etc, or even the great defensive bigs like Mourning/Mutumbo/Eaton etc.

The current small ball era is less favorable to bigs not more favorable. It is highly favorable towards guard play.

All of them would be less effective defensively due having to guard the perimeter more and dealing with more pick & roll play.

You cannot shut down Jokic, he is a complete offensive player. None of those centers ever had to deal with a player with an inside game, outside game and elite passing ability.

Closest guy was Sabonis but he was already washed at that point.

I would say it depends on the big and their skills. It is less favorable defensively, especially if the big is one where you can't figure out how to keep on the floor defensively. On the offensive side though, more spacing and fewer other bigger players on the court is helpful for a big. They can definitely get a lot more matchups against a smaller guy now than they would have in the past, and at times even without another big as a help defender behind their primary defender.

[lambchop]

mmmh weird. Probably taken out of context?

No way he actually believes that.

Although I've seen some goofy Ayton fans claiming he was better than Jokic because he hadn't been to the Finals (pre 2023)

Nope, it's what he said. You'll probably have to ask a friend or colleague to translate it for you, but it's not like they pieced together the quote to spark controversy. It's simply what Kukoc said.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C5OVTyiNNOs/?igsh=MXJ1OXRjMHdqaDE4bw==

[Jabroni Lames]

Good lord. I am 100% opposed to media censorship, but I'm willing to make an exception for these NBA old heads.