[joe2324Participant]

Lately, as I’ve been watching more of Jokic, i’m seeing a lot of Bill Walton and Arvdas Sabonis(prime). Everything from his court awareness, passing, moving without the ball and a bunch of other little things those guys did.

 

 Hes not at those levels yet, but in a few years I think hes going to be extremely dominant in the way that Walton was during his days in Portland.  

[MkadozaParticipant]

 Great calls on both players. Walton and Sabonis were just better than everyone else at basketball. They weren’t super athletic. They were just more skilled than everyone they played against. Jokic has that innate basketball IQ that makes him nigh unguardable.

[HitsterParticipant]

 Good comparison as it may not be an obvious one as we rarely saw a fit prime Walton and Sabonis was in his 30’s before he came to the NBA. Jokic is putting up crazy assist numbers for a legit C, almost peak Wilt type numbers and his passing for a big man puts a whole new dimension to the Nuggets court options.

 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

The player that automatically comes to mind when I watch jokic play is vlade divac. Divac was a guy that I always felt was way ahead of his time and early in his career teams weren’t really sure how to utilize him. Very similar body types and skill sets. Both were masters at facilitating from the high post and could really handle the ball for guys their size. Both really understood how to work the refs and embellish contact to draw fouls. Neither were fast or athletic but had sneaky quick hands and good defensive instincts. Jokic is more offensively inclined and a better shooter than divac ever was but I feel he may have developed that part of his game a lot more had he come up in this era.

I see similarities to Sabonis and Walton in jokic as well, but divac is still probably the closest comparison to me from a stylistic perspective. 

  

[SeattleSuperChronicsParticipant]

 What about a more current comparison in the Gasol brothers…

[mowestenParticipant]

I see a mix of the two Gasol brothers only a better passer and a little better perimeter player than either.

If you are comparing him to a young Sabonis, it’s likely you didn’t see a young Sabonis. In his prime, Sabonis was a powerful athlete who combined skill, power, athleticism and a mean nasty streak. He is still one of the best big men I’ve ever seen and the player people saw later was just a shell of his former self.

There really isn’t much video of him in his prime unfortunately, a few clips that span just a few minutes. Kinda sad really.

 

  

[Memphis MadnessParticipant]

 I tried to post another comment yesterday but it wouldn’t let me.

Good call Dazzling Dunks on Vlade Divac!  I thought of this too — loved that guy!  Great post guy, rebounder, passer, and a solid shot blocker.  He had a great 1991 Finals too.  Lakers won game 1, and ALMOST won game 2 on a Divac shot (before MJ came back and scored).  Up 2-0 I think Lakers could have won that series.  

Jokic: BEST of Marc and Pau?  Pau’s scoring, board work, and post play with Marc’s passing, shooting range, and girth.

Other than that, I am not sure that The Big Tesla aka White Chamberlain is street legal.

 

 

 

 

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