Former Lakers Player Unleashes Nikola Jokic vs. Shaquille O'Neal Take
Recently appearing on the That's F***ed Up Podcast, former Los Angeles Lakers center John Salley was asked if Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic would have dominated the 1990s the way he's currently dominating the league.
"[Jokic] is one of the most unbelievable seven centers I've ever seen," Salley said. "There's no guarding him. He's either gonna go around you - This is what I say. This is why I feel he reminds me of Larry Bird, he moves at his speed, and you can't keep up with his speed, which is no speed... I couldn't imagine [Shaquille O'Neal] guarding him, because Shaq didn't want to come out, and Shaq don't like to be embarrassed."
Salley added that O'Neal would be able to score on Jokic, but doesn't believe the NBA legend could handle him defensively. In all fairness, nobody in the NBA can handle Jokic defensively, so this isn't the most disrespectful take from Salley. That said, the initial debate was about how Jokic would handle the 1990s, since most teams at that time played two traditional bigs.
This is the type of hypothetical discussion that only pops up during the offseason when content is dry, but it can be fun to debate these types of things while everyone waits for basketball season to return. For former Lakers center John Salley, there's no question that Jokic would dominate any era.
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