Chris Mannix Thinks Nikola Jokic Playoff Run Doesn't Qualify as All-Time Great
Chris Mannix continues to take shots at the Denver Nuggets and he was at it again on Monday. Mannix was a guest on Hoops Tonight with Jason Timpf and claimed Nikola Jokic's run during this year's playoffs doesn't qualify as all-time great. The reason? Because he's dominated everyone. Which ... doesn't seem to make any sense.
Here's what Mannix said:
Jason and Chris discuss whether or not Jokic has had an all-time great playoffs.
— n i k o l a e s t h e t i c (@nikolaesthetic) June 12, 2023
They say no because he dominated everybody.
Low-key haters.
Denver's first championship. Breaks a tonne of records. Sweeps LeBron who they both picked. Plays the game like the greats. He had no… https://t.co/R01j4P6iIL pic.twitter.com/JDykBag8Qh
This is a wild take. The Nuggets didn't have a peer or equal in the postseason because Jokic has absolutely dominated.
By any measure, Jokic is having one of the best postseasons of all-time. He's averaging 30.1 points, 13.3 rebounds and 9.8 assists in 39.3 minutes per game, all while shooting 54.0 percent form the field, 46.6 from 3-point range and 80.6 percent from the free throw line. The Nuggets have dominated some very good teams along the way as well. Assuming they finish off the Miami Heat, Denver will have gone through squads that featured Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Devin Booker, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Jimmy Butler and all in dominant fashion.
The Nuggets are currently 15-4 in the postseason. They swept a very good Los Angeles Lakers squad that had been streaking. While all four games were tightly contested, Denver prevailed precisely because Jokic has been so good.
It seems Mannix is holding the fact that Jokic is leading a dominant team against him. That's extremely silly.
He hopped onto Twitter to defend his take, claiming he had praised Jokic's numbers this postseason earlier in the segment:
Extreme cherry picking. Began the whole segment with his numbers, accomplishments, how he shut up any remaining critics. Just pointed out that down the line that true legacy matchup will be what defines him. Same as all the greats.
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) June 12, 2023
Sure, fine, but you're still claiming he didn't face a "legacy matchup" when his team will have ousted five sure-fire Hall of Famers and Devin Booker (who should get there on his current trajectory).
The NBA take ecosystem is already crazy, we don't need people debating the value of Jokic's absolutely unbelievable postseason run.