Arvydas Sabonis Vs Nikola Jokić

fantomex · Post #1 » by **fantomex** » Mon Feb 17, 2020 11:25 pm

Who is a better player?

Colbinii · Post #2 » by **Colbinii** » Mon Feb 17, 2020 11:37 pm

During their time in the NBA? Nikola Jokic.

fantomex · Post #3 » by **fantomex** » Mon Feb 17, 2020 11:40 pm

Both at peak.

Pipp33 · Post #4 » by **Pipp33** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 1:53 am

Very hard to judge because of Sabonis' late arrival to the NBA. By the time he was in the NBA, he was essentially past his prime, but was still a very impactful player.

I'd give the edge to Sabonis, but Jokic is the closest thing to him. I'd love to see what Jokic could do if he got his body really fit, because he's already a great player, but he starts out every season overweight and out of conditioning.

70sFan · Post #5 » by **70sFan** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 7:03 am

Young Sabonis was better player than Jokic, but he was rarely healthy and never reached his real peak.

Because of that give me Joker.

Ryoga Hibiki · Post #6 » by **Ryoga Hibiki** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 7:04 am

Definitely Jokic, if you think Sabonis it is because you're thinking who he might have been and not who he was.

Jiminy Glick · Post #7 » by **Jiminy Glick** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 10:32 am

If Sabonis was healthy in his prime? Easily Sabonis. He would have been in the Kareem tier. It was a similar situation to Walton.

Jaivl · Post #8 » by **Jaivl** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 12:10 pm

Jiminy Glick wrote:He would have been in the Kareem tier. It was a similar situation to Walton.

Oh, not another KG thread!

Gooner · Post #9 » by **Gooner** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 12:12 pm

Domantas Sabonis and Jokic would be a better comparison.

Jiminy Glick · Post #10 » by **Jiminy Glick** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 1:18 pm

Jaivl wrote:
Jiminy Glick wrote:He would have been in the Kareem tier. It was a similar situation to Walton.

Oh, not another KG thread!

I'd rather have prime Garnett on a team over prime LeBron for a tournament that has all great players on each team. Better defender and rebounder and also a great offensive player.

frica · Post #11 » by **frica** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 2:46 pm

Jokic, although Sabonis had more talent.

Ron Swanson · Post #12 » by **Ron Swanson** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 4:25 pm

Jokic pretty easily. Not Arvydas' fault that he arrived to the NBA so late, but speculating how good his NBA peak/prime would have been based on assumption and what he did in the Soviet league is too dishonest for me.

Post #13 » by **penbeast0** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 4:50 pm

Let's stick to the OP, even if it's a running gag between you two.

HeartBreakKid · Post #14 » by **HeartBreakKid** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 8:57 pm

Pre NBA Sabonis? Yeah, he was probably better than Jokic. His scoring was underrated, though his defensive reputation is too high for the lack of footage/data we have of him. I think overall Sabonis does fill in that 7 footer two-way play sweet spot, though Jokic is so good offensively he really doesn't need much defense to become an all time great.

If Sabonis played today he'd also give his teams some major stretch 5 ability. He has crazy gravity from low post, high post and beyond the arc - combine with his passing and big body for screens that guy is going to anchor some great offenses without having to score much.

Post #15 » by **Clyde Frazier** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 9:56 pm

It would seem the hypothetical healthy prime sabonis in the NBA may have a slight advantage over jokic given his defense. Unfortunately we were never lucky enough to see that. It reminds me, I still haven't checked out what's supposed to be several full games of young sabonis here:

viewtopic.php?p=81270114#p81270114

Worth checking out while we have a few more days with no games!