The Philadelphia 76ers have been dominant in the Eastern Conference this season but the same is not the case for the West. Several teams have been in the mix, teams like the Los Angeles Clippers, Utah Jazz and the Lakers have been in and around the top spots. Another team which has earned a lot of traction in the last few matches has to be the Denver Nuggets.

The Nuggets are geared up to face the Lakers up next in a match which will see LeBron James facing Nikola Jokic who has been in exceptional form this season. James has been a legend of the game for multiple years and now with the emergence of Jokic people are drawing comparisons between the two players. Therefore ahead of the big match, Jokic spoke about it in an interview.

“The speed is there. We are the same athletic wise,” he stated. But Jokic couldn’t help but come up with a tongue in cheek moment as he said, “I don’t know if he can jump as high as me, but we are kinda similar. And quickness, you know, he’s a little bit older, I don’t know if he can keep up the speed with me.”

He laughed and then said, “I’m joking. I mean…guys, he’s the best player in the league, he’s a guy who’s been doing this for a long time, [he] affects the game in every possible way.” Further answering the question he replied. “There are some kind of similarities with how we affect our teammates, I think.”

Both the Lakers and the Nuggets met each other in the Conference finals and Jokic and Jamal Murray’s team were the underdogs and they did well. They had a great last season in the bubble as they overcame a 3-1 deficit twice and were looking like a force to be reckoned with in the coming years.

In the current league table, the Nuggets are just below the Lakers and only time will tell whether Michael Malone’s team will reach that level or not. James and Jokic will have a big role to play to decide the fortunes of their respective teams but it also depends on how their supporting players play through the season.