Nikola Jokić and best Bigmen passers of all time

[mixerball]

Sabonis and Vlade were flashier and more pleasing to the eye.

Jokic looks clumsy out there making passes. Most of his spectacular passes seem like they happen more from sheer luck than anything else.

Still, his positioning and awareness cannot be denied.

im sorry but we havent seen such amount of highlight passes from any center in the history of the league. jokic is easily the flashiest passer center ever.

vlade and sabonis made few behind the back passes and to the teammate behind them, but thats it, when considering flash.

[ChilledAlex]

Come on people, Sabonis could pass towel and water to Jokic. Jokic is light years ahead and if your nostalgia glasses don't let you see the obvious difference in games then just check stats.

And don't give me that bs that he came in league past his prime and injured, SABONIS WAS NEVER AS GOOD AS JOKIC IS NOW

[UcanUwill]

Come on people, Sabonis could pass towel and water to Jokic. Jokic is light years ahead and if your nostalgia glasses don't let you see the obvious difference in games then just check stats.

And don't give me that bs that he came in league past his prime and injured, SABONIS WAS NEVER AS GOOD AS JOKIC IS NOW

At passing, or you mean overall? at passing I agree, overall, I dont know about that.

[KokoKaizer]

Joker is clearly the best big man passer of all time. Of the best big passers he's the least reliant on his post game being dominant and beating a double. Webber/KG has claim to this as well. Tonight he pushed his butt into a defender to create space and made a lane for a touch pass. I'm explaining it terribly because I've never seen a center do the move. I seen PG seal off with a live dribble but never a center off a pick and roll seal off and make a give and go touch pass. He's next level a tier that can't be matched. If Euro fans want the next Dirk it's Joker without question. Everyone else is below him and will not match. Even my KP(athletic Dirk clone).

A legend is being extremely overrated but understandable.

Don't get me wrong Jokic is great but have you ever saw Sabonis (Arvydas) play ? In NBA ? Before his near ending injury before he played in the US ?

I saw both and Arvydas was better.

But Jokic is a marvel and I can understand that young people praise him, he's great !

[KokoKaizer]

Come on people, Sabonis could pass towel and water to Jokic. Jokic is light years ahead and if your nostalgia glasses don't let you see the obvious difference in games then just check stats.

And don't give me that bs that he came in league past his prime and injured, SABONIS WAS NEVER AS GOOD AS JOKIC IS NOW

You don't know what you're talking about sir...

Pre injury Arvydas was that great. But you don't know it.

Watch on YouTube

[LarryJoeDuncan]

This guy is amazing. It is impossible to compare him to anybody. I have never seen someone make basketball look so easy. The debate will go on for years as to who is the best big man in the league but I can tell you this, I would rather watch jokic play more then any other big man in the NBA. Simply beautiful basketball.

[LarryJoeDuncan]

Arvydas was an absolute monster in his prime. Only comparison for him is maybe walton or shaq? Jokic is amazing but has a lot of work to do to get to that level of scoring + defense + leadership.

[scrabbarista]

Before seeing the options, I wasn't going to vote because I couldn't decide between Jokic and Sabonis. Nice to see the right two guys at the top.

[ChilledAlex]

Come on people, Sabonis could pass towel and water to Jokic. Jokic is light years ahead and if your nostalgia glasses don't let you see the obvious difference in games then just check stats.

And don't give me that bs that he came in league past his prime and injured, SABONIS WAS NEVER AS GOOD AS JOKIC IS NOW

You don't know what you're talking about sir...

Pre injury Arvydas was that great. But you don't know it.

Watch on YouTube

Oh yea? now pick Jokics 3year career highlights and put next to that joke you just posted

[ChilledAlex]

Come on people, Sabonis could pass towel and water to Jokic. Jokic is light years ahead and if your nostalgia glasses don't let you see the obvious difference in games then just check stats.

And don't give me that bs that he came in league past his prime and injured, SABONIS WAS NEVER AS GOOD AS JOKIC IS NOW

At passing, or you mean overall? at passing I agree, overall, I dont know about that.

Sabonis has only defense on Jokic. Jokic isn't as quick on feet but the IQ and skills are otherworldy.

I stand by my words

[UcanUwill]

Come on people, Sabonis could pass towel and water to Jokic. Jokic is light years ahead and if your nostalgia glasses don't let you see the obvious difference in games then just check stats.

And don't give me that bs that he came in league past his prime and injured, SABONIS WAS NEVER AS GOOD AS JOKIC IS NOW

You don't know what you're talking about sir...

Pre injury Arvydas was that great. But you don't know it.

Watch on YouTube

Oh yea? now pick Jokics 3year career highlights and put next to that joke you just posted

Yeah, but thats way after AS prime.

[KokoKaizer]

You don't know what you're talking about sir...

Pre injury Arvydas was that great. But you don't know it.

Watch on YouTube

Oh yea? now pick Jokics 3year career highlights and put next to that joke you just posted

Yeah, but thats way after AS prime.

Exactly

[mixerball]

look, sabonis was an incredible specimen prior to his achilles injuries(both of them if you forgot). he was jokic(shooting 3s, post clinic, pass, iq) except he could dunk from free throw line. i mean, he made it into nba with both torn achilles. an absolute legend. some of you youngsters need to chill because its clear you lack knowledge about this man.


that said, jokic is already a better passer than him (flashier also)

[UcanUwill]

Oh yea? now pick Jokics 3year career highlights and put next to that joke you just posted

Yeah, but thats way after AS prime.

Exactly

There is one argument against SAbonis not being as great as his legend, And i said it before, but I want to hear what you think. When 40 year old sabonis returned to Zalgiris, at the time he was NBA role player, but he was still super dominant in the euroleague, super dominant. So, was he really that good in his prime, or inferior euros were just terribly matched up against him from the very beginning? You know what I mean?

That said, Sabonis skills were otherworldy too. He had probably the best hands the game has ever seen, amazing touch, coordination and obviously skill. in early 90's he suffered injury and doctors diagnosed that he will never play again at pro level. That was before he joined NBA, so just to think that he not only managed to return, join the NBA and still be borderline dominant center with zero athleticism left in him is insane.

I am just not sure how much better he was in his prime, he was obviously athletic when he was young, but he was injury prone from very beginning. If he was healthy, he probably would have been the player the legends suggests he was, but I am not sure reality as it is, is a match.

[KokoKaizer]

Yeah, but thats way after AS prime.

Exactly

There is one argument against SAbonis not being as great as his legend, And i said it before, but I want to hear what you think. When 40 year old sabonis returned to Zalgiris, at the time he was NBA role player, but he was still super dominant in the euroleague, super dominant. So, was he really that good in his prime, or inferior euros were just terribly matched up against him from the very beginning? You know what I mean?

That said, Sabonis skills were otherworldy too. He had probably the best hands the game has ever seen, amazing touch, coordination and obviously skill. in early 90's he suffered injury and doctors diagnosed that he will never play again at pro level. That was before he joined NBA, so just to think that he not only managed to return, join the NBA and still be borderline dominant center with zero athleticism left in him is insane.

I am just not sure how much better he was in his prime, he was obviously athletic when he was young, but he was injury prone from very beginning. If he was healthy, he probably would have been the player the legends suggests he was, but I am not sure reality as it is, is a match.

He was a Point Center

[GYK]

He doesn't have speed on his side like a lot of those guys you named, his passing is all because of how he reads the floor which is really incredible to be honest. I wouldn't call him the best passer ever, but considering how he's doing it you can make a case for him being as good a passer as any of the best PG passers that have played, he doesn't pass off a pick he just sees passing lanes everywhere.

I don't think it's fair to say someone has better vision because they are slower. Looking at Indy driver decision making at high speeds is their lives. I also wouldn't say they are better because they have to move around the court to find angles instead of patiently waiting for developments to happen around them never asked to consistently create a shot for others.

In this era with so many floor spacers and the high screen being used so much the passing lanes for a driver and where the help is coming from is a lot more obvious than what Jokic is doing hitting shooters from the post or finding passing lanes for cutters. There have been crappy guards that averaged a lot of assists per game, some guys you never heard of like Gary Grant averaged 10.0apg, that doesn't make them better passers than Jokic. The pass he had tonight was out of this world

Read on Twitter

Not denying he's elite. I'm saying the idea his lack of athleticism doesn't make him a better passer than others. Athletic ability doesn't mean you have a lower IQ. That's all.

[GYK]

Joker is clearly the best big man passer of all time. Of the best big passers he's the least reliant on his post game being dominant and beating a double. Webber/KG has claim to this as well. Tonight he pushed his butt into a defender to create space and made a lane for a touch pass. I'm explaining it terribly because I've never seen a center do the move. I seen PG seal off with a live dribble but never a center off a pick and roll seal off and make a give and go touch pass. He's next level a tier that can't be matched. If Euro fans want the next Dirk it's Joker without question. Everyone else is below him and will not match. Even my KP(athletic Dirk clone).

A legend is being extremely overrated but understandable.

Don't get me wrong Jokic is great but have you ever saw Sabonis (Arvydas) play ? In NBA ? Before his near ending injury before he played in the US ?

I saw both and Arvydas was better.

But Jokic is a marvel and I can understand that young people praise him, he's great !

Seen him and say he's overrated. A fantastic passer. But GOAT status based on myth. Joker is clearly better.

[DimesandKnicks]

Ahhh jokic hyperbole is back

It's hyperbolic to say he's one of the best centers at passing ever?

the word ever makes it hyberbolic considering he is playing his third season only. everything is ever these days.

He's averaging 7 assist in under 30minutes. There is nothing hyperbolic about it.

[wutevahung]

KG belongs on the list.

[stoo]

somebody could confront them in 2k