SI

Kendrick Perkins Claims Nikola Jokic 'Wouldn't Have Wanted This Smoke'

The ESPN analyst believes he would have slowed down the three-time NBA MVP.

Tim Capurso

Perkins believes Jokic wouldn't be as effective against his defense.
Perkins believes Jokic wouldn't be as effective against his defense. / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
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In most sports, yesterday's greats are not keen on admitting that today's stars might just have a leg up on them. But in no other sport do former players so readily voice such opinions as they do in the NBA. And one former-player-turned-ESPN-analyst Kendrick Perkins, who spent 14 seasons in the NBA, was not shy about telling the world how he thinks he would have fared in a matchup against Denver Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic.

Hint, Perkins thinks he would have fared very well.

"Jokic wouldn't have wanted this smoke," Perkins said during NBA Countdown on ESPN before Friday's Boston Celtics-New York Knicks game. "Kobe [Bryant] said I was the best post defender in the league."

Perkins must have forgotten that NBA fans are nothing if not diligent when it comes to holding onto receipts. One fan dug up footage of a Nuggets game, featuring Jokic in his rookie year, going up against a 31-year-old Perkins, who was in his second-to-last season, back in 2015-16.

It was... not great for Perkins.

To be fair, this was not young Perkins, who averaged 2.0 blocks per game as a 24-year-old for the Boston Celtics during the 2008-09 season. Maybe that Perkins would have given today's version of Jokic some trouble.

What immediately trumps Perkins's argument though, is the fact that many of today's players, including those who have won Defensive Player of the Year awards, haven't been able to slow down the three-time MVP.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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