Paul Pierce Calls Out Nikola Jokic After 1st-Round Exit, Notes LeBron James Wouldn’t Get a Pass

Superstar center Nikola Jokic and his Denver Nuggets lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round.

Paul Pierce Calls Out Nikola Jokic After 1st-Round Exit, Notes LeBron James Wouldn’t Get a Pass

Paul Pierce and Nikola Jokic (Image via FirstSportz)

In Short
  • Paul Pierce criticizes Nikola Jokic for failing to advance past the first round of the playoffs.
  • He argues that LeBron James would face harsher criticism for a similar performance.
  • Pierce calls for equal accountability for international players like Jokic compared to American stars.

There is no doubt that Nikola Jokic is widely considered the best basketball player in the world. The Denver Nuggets center has been at the top even though he has missed out on the MVP award on a couple of occasions.

The Serbian’s rise from a late second-round pick to become the fulcrum of his team has already been well-documented. Usually, players do not go through such a transformation.

Rather, the talent was already there, and the Nuggets were the only franchise to notice it when he was plying his trade in Europe. Then, building their offense around him turned out to be a stroke of genius.

Nowadays, almost every analyst picks them to be one of the preseason championship favorites. But this time, that prediction fell flat at the first hurdle.

After two exits at the semifinals stage in the last two seasons, the Nuggets were booted out by the Minnesota Timberwolves, playing without Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo for the most part. That is why a former champion believes it is all on Jokic.

We’re not going to sugarcoat this one… We say today that Joker is the best player in the game. Right?… Let this had have been LeBron at the peak of his powers… What we would have been saying about him. Like he’s in his prime. If you’re the best player in the league, you’re not supposed to lose in the first round.

Paul Pierce said on No Fouls Given

Paul Pierce pointed out how fans and the legacy media would have torn apart LeBron James had he finished his season in this manner. Therefore, Nikola Jokic should not get a pass.

Paul Pierce calls out media for hyping European players over Americans after Nikola Jokic’s disastrous run

Paul Pierce made it clear that Nikola Jokic is not being handled in the same manner LeBron James has been whenever he had a bad game or series. But what irks him more is how the league and its media partners have been hyping Europeans over Americans.

Nikola Jokic during the first-round series
Nikola Jokic during the first-round series (Image via 30 Got Next/X)

We’re saying that Joker, and the international game is better than the America’s, and at the top, and all of this, and he is the best player, and this is what’s happening?

Paul Pierce said

The 2008 champion believes that if this is what is happening to the supposed best player in the world, then it is an indictment of the NBA and its media partners for dissing American players all along.

It seems Pierce wants the legacy media to go after Jokic and his fellow Europeans with the same vigor as they do Americans. Otherwise, it makes no sense when others are getting it, especially after that embarrassing end to their season.

Kendrick Perkins does his part calling out Nikola Jokic

While Paul Pierce cited LeBron James as the one who receives the most criticism, his Celtics championship-winning teammate went one step further when talking about Nikola Jokic.

We’re not in Serbia, we’re in America, and he got punked yesterday… We have to hold him to a level of accountability like we would do every ‘all-time great’… I jumped the gun just like everybody else when it comes to disrespecting all-time greats. We were so ready to crown this man and put him above all-time greats because of certain things and numbers he was putting up in the regular season.

Kendrick Perkins said on First Take

The ESPN analyst was referring to the Joker’s suggestion that had this been in Serbia, the entire team would have been fired. Kendrick Perkins believes that in America, he should be held accountable for this loss.

On top of that, the former center made it clear that he was wrong to have placed Nikola Jokic in the top 5 centers of all-time list, as the Nuggets star has zero defensive contribution. That should be a negative on his resume.

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