"This is insane xenophobia": Fans berate ex-NBA star for 'diminishing' Nikola Jokic's greatness with Russell Westbrook comparison
Nikola Jokic is one of the finalists for this year's MVP award alongside Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo. However, former Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams doesn't want to put Jokic amongst the NBA's legends just yet, comparing his season to what his teammate Russell Westbrook, did in OKC.
Nikola Jokic finished the regular season averaging a triple double and has maintained his numbers so far this postseason. He is the third player in the history of the NBA to put up a statline like that, joining Westbrook and Oscar Robertson. However, Westbrook accomplished the feat four times in his career so far.
Williams, a respected former NBA player, pointed out on Tuesday's episode of Run It Back that Nikola Jokic still has plenty to prove before joining the list of all-time NBA greats. According to him, people shouldn't put too much weight into his numbers after Westbrook has done it for so long.
"He's unbelievable, but we didn't make this argument when for Russell Westbrook when he was doing this," said Williams.
Fans took to social media to share their thoughts on Williams' take. One fan went as far as too accuse him of xenophobia, saying that the only reason the former NBA guard wasn't giving Jokic the appreciation he deserves is because he is from a foreign country.
"Why do they all diminish his greatness to just averaging triple doubles, it’s not just the stats, it’s how he’s getting the stats and the eye test is something else, he has been the best player in the league before averaging a triple double," one fan asked.
"They might the worst basketball show out right now. Hands down," said another.
"You gotta be a f*****g idiot to watch how Jokic Plays and watch how prime russ plays and think it’s one of the same," commented one fan. "Jokic is top 10 big of all time."
"Terrible timing for this mfer to say this considering last night," said one fan, shouting out Jokic's effort on Monday night. "Westbrook was fun for a bit. Jokic is barreling into the discussion for top 10-15 of all time."
"N**** Russ didn’t win a ring with 3mvps lou be talking b******t at times," one fan said.
"Maybe former players being analysts wasn’t a good idea," posed one fan, calling out Williams' analysis.
Nikola Jokic is adding to a long NBA resume
Whether or not he wins MVP this year or not, Nikola Jokic is putting together one of the best NBA careers of any player currently in the league. He has racked up three MVPs already to go along with one championship and is widely considered to have been the league's best player for the last few years.
He added another gem to his playoff ledger on Monday night in a nail-biting win over the Thunder in Game 1 of their second-round matchup. Nikola Jokic had 42 points and 22 rebounds in the 121-119 win, showing out in his first playoff game against his main competitor for MVP. Despite his great performance, the Denver Nuggets still needed some late-game heroics from Aaron Gordon to win.
Regardless of what any analyst, former player or not, says about Nikola Jokic and where he standing in the all-time rankings, the Serbian big man has very little left to prove in his career. However if he is able to guide his team and interim head coach David Adelman to the franchise's second title ever, he will silence the haters and climb further establish himself as one of the best players to ever play.
