LeBron James and Nikola Jokic are clearly very different people, but today we gained an interesting insight into what it’s like to play with each of them and what the main differences between them are.
That insight comes courtesy of former Lakers and Nuggets player Thomas Bryant. Here’s what he had to say:
“(They are) very different because Bron will talk to you, like you’ll see his IQ pop out of nowhere, but Jokic is a very big leader by example,” Bryant said on a recent podcast from Playmaker. “He’s very quiet. Like he’ll talk to you and everything.
“Like, he’s a great guy, but he’s not going out just saying like, ‘Hey, you gotta do this, you gotta do that, gotta do that and everything. Like, no, he’s a leader by example. And he has trust in all of his teammates. Like a person that’s as skilled as him and he’s very open about it, like, I don’t care if I have 10 turnovers. I’m gonna still make the right play.
“And just hearing something like that, it’s just like, ‘Damn’. So your best player on your team, it doesn’t matter if he turned the ball over or anything. I’m gonna still pass it to you to make sure you get the right shot or it’s the open shot. So it’s like, that’s really something right there.”
Bryant has since moved on from LA and Denver, but not before winning a championship with the Nuggets last season.
He finally had the chance to collect his championship ring when his Miami Heat visited Denver last Thursday.
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