While his Denver Nuggets team has had its share of injuries, it’s been a steady decline for Nikola Jokic and crew since that championship in 2023. At first, it was ignorable, considering his run of greatness. But after getting eliminated in the first round by a Minnesota Timberwolves team that was riddled with injuries, including to superstar Anthony Edwards, NBA legend Paul Pierce needs some answers.
Paul Pierce Says Fans Shouldn’t Sugar Coat Nikola Jokic First-Round Playoff Loss To Minnesota
He’s also calling for some accountability for Jokic, who has not been able to elevate his team to anything close to championship heights since 2023. Pierce took to his “No Fouls Given” podcast with three-time NBA champion Danny Green to vent.
“We’re not going to sugar coat this one. Because if this was LeBron at the peak of his powers losing like this because this is what we say. We say today that Joker is the best player in the game. Right? He might not win MVP, but he’s the best player. We’ve said this for the last three or four years, right? Let this had been LeBron at the peak of his powers. What would we have been saying? What we would have been saying about him. LIKE HE’S IN HIS PRIME. If you’re the best player in the league, you’re not supposed to lose in the first round.”
Danny Green Says Denver Nuggets Got Punked By Jaden McDaniels
Pierce has heard the stories about how Nikola Jokic is the greatest center ever and does things that Shaq and others could only dream of (which is fallacy but that’s another story). Even this season, after three MVPs and just one ring, there was a large contingent of basketball fans who felt Joker deserved another MVP over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Danny Green won three rings in the NBA and on his podcast he straight up said Minnesota T-Wolves player Jaden Mcdaniels punked the Nuggets, who prior to the game said he didn’t fear any of the Nuggets players, including Jokic, because they were terrible defenders.
Green figured the three-time MVP would take it personally and elevate his team to a win over the short-handed T-Wolves. Instead, McDaniels gave them a 30-piece and a biscuit, plus 10 boards in a 110-98 elimination Game 6.
“How do you as a competitor let somebody look you in your face, tell you I’m going to punch you in your face, then do it and say what you going to do? That’s basically what Jaden McDaniels did. Y’all are bad defenders. And he came up and had 30 and 10. He punked you by himself,” Green said.
NBA Fans Run To Joker’s Defense
Fans came to Joker’s defense, reminding Pierce that LeBron had his share of embarrasing playoff losses as well.
“BRUH, SIT YO GOOFY ASS DOWN. LeBaby got swept 3 times
2007 NBA Finals – Cleveland Cavaliers vs. San Antonio Spurs
2018 NBA Finals – Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Golden State Warriors
2023 Western Conference Finals – Los Angeles Lakers vs. Denver Nuggets,” one netizen commented.
Most fans agree that Joker is a great player, but not an immortal like LeBron, so he should be able to lose without former players taking shots. Also, they say Joker has not had the superteams LeBron’s been blessed with during his four titles in 10 trips to the Finals.
“LeBron is on a different level than Jokic. Nobody ever said Jokic is top five of all time. He’s not going to be a top five player all time. He can lose sometimes and it’s normal,” said one fan.
“Jokic never had a big 3 like LeBron had. Jokic’s team is the equivalent of LeBron’s 09&10 teams but better. Also, no one said Jokic was the chosen one. He literally had a Taco Bell commercial played when he was drafted. Jokic overachieved,” another commented on X.
Like all superstars, Jokic pays the cost to be the boss and gets the glory when Denver wins and has to take the criticism when they fall short.
