Difference between Nikolai Jokic and Tim Duncan

[Lebron23]

"Difference between Nikolai Jokic and Prime Tim Duncan. Duncan was a great defender. Only reason he never won an NBA All defensive player of the year he played in an era which had the best defenders in NBA history. (Ben Wallace, Dikembe Mutombo, and Kevin Garnett, Marcus Camby" Defense wins championship".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdEiiWFNeeM

[Overdrive]

One is not like the others.

[FultzNationRISE]

True but Duncan also played in a defensive era. There is no doubt Duncan would have less defensive impact today the way the game is played. Whereas if you send Joker back to that era he gains in defense a bit.

Again the game has changed too much to compare guys of different eras. Only player we can say for sure transcends all is LeTimeless.

[1987_Lakers]

Camby winning DPOY over Duncan was a joke.

[1987_Lakers]

A Kobe fan calling someone else's defense overrated. lol

[90sgoat]

Offensively, I would say they are actually quite similar in terms of using their threat of scoring to set up teammates.

Spurs offense and Parkers floaters would be nothing without Duncan always being a threat. Likewise with Jokic and Murray.

[ShawkFactory]

A Kobe fan calling someone else's defense overrated. lol

Rabid Kobe fans seem to be the only ones with anything negative to say about Duncan.

[Jasper]

duncan was a PF

Jokic is a 5.


Duncan camped at low post

Jokic is a modern day stretch

/

[SouBeachTalents]

Damn, and all this time I thought these two played exactly the same.

And why the fck is OP using quotation marks like anybody would talk like that :lol

[FultzNationRISE]

duncan was stuck in the mud on defense. good at defending other power forwards but vs bigger centers and athletic wing players he was trash


Trash is obvious hyperbole but to your point he did also get famously lit up by STAT in the playoffs (and served him back on the other end so it was a wash).

I agree Duncan's primary defensive value was guarding other low post players, and obviously having a good sense of rotations and discipline on defense which is what the Spurs were collectively known for. But he was still vulnerable in ways and had bad matchups. IMO he wasnt the "one man tour de force" on defense he's sometimes portrayed/remembered as.

The Spurs were a great defensive team, and people tend to want to attach single individual faces to abstract concepts, so Duncan gets perhaps a bit over credited. It was also an era that favored defense. Again, if you put him in today's game he's probably a lesser version of Toody defensively. The Nuggets meanwhile have one good defender (Gordon) and basically everyone else is below average. It results in a lot more people finishing over Jokic that wouldnt have it as easy if the perimeter d was better.

I know people look for ways to protect legends and lore, but the reality is Joker almost certainly is the best big man of the modern era without much doubt. You can deflect by saying his team hasnt won, or try to soften it by saying "best offensive big man," but the truth is what it is. He's just better overall than pretty much any big man who came before him. I personally have him ahead of Bird and Magic already because I dont care about 'resume' comparisons and he's basically like both those guys in a 7 foot body. Besides Lebron and MJ I dont really see anyone with a more dominant combination of basketball gifts.

[hold this L]

A Kobe fan calling someone else's defense overrated. lol

Also why would you expect a forward to defend a guard?

[kawhileonard2]

Tim Duncan turned an organization that never won into a dynasty. Jokic has to do similar.

[Full Court]

OP is correct.

Which is also the difference between 38-year old Jordan and 38-year old Bronie.

Jordan was still a good defender.