Celebrities and former NBA players come out of the woodwork to hate on Nikola Jokic
By Ben Handler
It’s mind-boggling that after all that Nikola Jokić has accomplished, he still has so many haters, but I guess that just comes with the territory it’s bizarre to see people in the media, not willing to give the man his flowers.
Famous comedians hate on the Joker
This was most recently evidenced on a pair of alternative broadcasts. First, comedians Kevin Hart and Cedric the Entertainer, while calling a different game, were talking about the MVP race while watching Luka Doncic.
Kevin Hart: "They cannot give [Nikola Jokic] any more MVPs... It's not good for the NBA."
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 11, 2024
Cedric the Entertainer: "[Joker] is having a great year, but it doesn't feel like that dominant year the way I would say [Shai Gilgeous-Alexander] is."pic.twitter.com/Jmc5aXblqN
They both expressed the sentiment that the league needs to stop giving Jokić MVP awards and that he shouldn’t be winning any more accolades.
Former NBA champion not the biggest Jokic fan
Then on a podcast, former NBA player Jason Williams expressed a similar sentiment and opined that he would prefer prime Dwight Howard to Jokic - a somewhat defensible take, but still fairly egregious.
Jason Williams would rather have Dwight Howard then Nikola Jokic 😳👀#NBA #MileHighBasketball #MagicTogether pic.twitter.com/IEzJqgqZZ8
— PlayersTV (@ThePlayersTV) April 9, 2024
While these two broadcasts are certainly entitled to their opinions, they are both wrong and ridiculous. The criticisms of Jokić are beyond unfair and seem to come down to almost pure dislike or some other inherent bias.
I don’t want to suggest that either race or international bias is at play here, but honestly, it’s hard to think of what else could be holding back the popularity of Jokić. He has just proven it time and time again.
He’s about to win his third MVP award, he passes every statistical analytics test, clearly passes the eye test, and most of all he wins, having cemented his legacy with a dominant run to the finals last season that culminated with the finals MVP. On top of that, he’s got his team in first place in the Western Conference and primed to go on another run.
I guess that great players will always have haters and as the saying goes, they don’t boo nobodies. These critiques are completely unjustified, but they’ll likely continue forever. Sadly there are always those who won’t like it but it’s time to face facts. Nikola Jokić is undeniable.
He’s been the best player in the world for several years and it doesn’t seem like that’s going to change anytime soon. Sorry haters.