Former Denver Nuggets guard makes bold claim about Nikola Jokic

Former Denver Nuggets guard Jameer Nelson joined Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles on the Knuckleheads podcast earlier this week. He detailed what it was like to watch Denver’s star center Nikola Jokic work in practice, during his time with the Nuggets.

“What you saw in practice is way better than what you see in games,” Nelson told the hosts. “The stuff he would do in practice, playing pick up and all that stuff, we were like this is wild. And it’s all to win. It was never – I tell people the dude can average 35 if he wants. He doesn’t care if he’s the best player… He just wants to play basketball and have fun, and most importantly he wants other people to succeed. And that shows in his game, it shows in that organization.”

Nelson spent two-and-a-half seasons playing in the Mile-High City from 2015-2017. He appeared in 148 total games for the Nuggets, averaging 8.9 points, 4.7 assists, and 2.5 rebounds per game while shooting 42.6% from the field and 35.6% from beyond the arc.

Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic has been at the center of praise all summer

After leading the Nuggets to their first-ever NBA championship, Jokic has been showered with praise all summer — deservedly so. He had a monster playoff run, averaging 30.0 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 9.5 assists per game while shooting 54.8 % overall and 46.1% from beyond the arc.

He was so dominant that NBA legend Jerry West even compared him to LeBron James.

“He’s just amazing,” West said during an appearance on The Rich Eissen Show. “He really is… He’s just one of those players that if you watch him play, he’ll score 10 points, and he’ll have 15 or 20 rebounds, 12 assists, but you have to watch him carefully around the basket and some of the shots that he makes… He’s got the greatest pair of hands of any inside player. He is like LeBron James. The brilliance of him as a player, but more importantly his mind, his mind makes everyone better. These things rub off on your teammates… These kind of players are rarities, and that’s why they’re so highly coveted.”