Nikola Jokic earns high praise from Steve Kerr as Team USA takes down Serbia in exhibition game: "Good at everything"
In a dominant outing Team USA handled their business against Nikola Jokic and the Serbian Olympic team. Following their 105-79 victory Wednesday, coach Steve Kerr praised the Nuggets big man as a highly-skilled center and one of the toughest players to defend.
With three NBA MVPs and a championship ring to his name, not much else is left to be said about Jokic's capabilities. Throughout the game, Kerr threw several defensive looks at "The Joker" with hopes of slowing him down. He ended up with a 16 points, 11 rebound double-double.
During his post-game interview, Kerr commented on the brilliance of Nikola Jokic, which was shared by Basketball Sphere on X, formerly known as Twitter.
"Nikola Jokic is the best basketball player in the world," Kerr said. "He's so good at everything, but tonight just wasn't his night."
One of the successful defensive coverages the Warriors coach prepared for Jokic was the tandem of Lakers' Anthony Davis and Heat's Bam Adebayo. Both play center in the NBA but Adebayo was moved to power forward to present more size. It seemed to work as the Nuggets superstar shot 6-of-9 from the field, including 0-of-4 from beyond the arc.
Team USA star gave a lukewarm response when asked about facing Nikola Jokic and Serbia in the opening of the Paris Olympics
The 2024 Paris Olympics is only a few days away with USA Basketball scheduled to begin their journey against Serbia on July 28. Aside from the big names featured such as LeBron James and Stephen Curry, a headline to watch for is the battle of the big men between Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.
When Troy Renck from The Denver Post asked the 76ers star about his thought process regarding the matchup, Embiid chose to focus on performing well for his team.
"I don't care about Jokic," Embiid said. "I'm playing for my national team."
The two centers have had high-caliber games back-and-forth and each has acknowledged that they are widely recognized to be two of the best in the league.
Today's showcase between the USA and Serbia offered a glimpse of what fans can expect in their upcoming matchup. They have faced each other several times during an NBA season but in front of an international crowd in Paris? Basketball fans are in for a good one.