After the Western Conference Final, however, more eyes are on Nikola Jokić, who led the Denver Nuggets to beat the LA Lakers in four games.
A lot of rosters are going to be rearranged come next season, so let’s check out where LeBron and Jokić stand.
An Upset Western Conference
The Western Conference was chaotic this year as power players were made or broken by the expectations put on them. Durant and the Suns, Curry and the Warriors, Morant and the Grizzlies, all fell by the wayside before the Nuggets and the Lakers.
So, it’s fair to say things were shaken up. This year’s games aren’t even over yet, so those who bet sports have an interesting NBA Final, postseason and 2024 to look forward to. Part of that will be the continuing emergence of juggernauts like Jokić and newfound talent like Austin Reaves, who outdid himself in the playoffs when the usual Lakers star players needed the help.
LeBron and the Lakers
It’s hard to make the Lakers, stacked with the likes of LeBron and Anthony Davis, look like underdogs in the western conference. Unfortunately, that’s how this year looked from a distance as the west’s best franchise was up against it from the very beginning.
They placed 7th seed, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves at the play-in to make the playoffs. The playoffs went smoothly until they didn’t, as 1st seed Nuggets dismantled them in four straight games.
So, what does this mean for LeBron and his stats? Well, it’s still been a good year considering he officially became the all-time top scorer with 38,390 points, bypassing Kareem’s record, and now it sits at 38,652.
This season, he averaged 28.9 points per game with 8.3 rebounds and 6.8 assists for a total average of 27.2, 7.5 rebounds and 7.3 assists. In his last game, he scored a crazy 40 points, backed by 10 rebounds and 9 assists. As put below – he “did all he could” – the Nuggets just had them outgunned.
Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets
The Nuggets’ season went a lot more smoothly than the Lakers’. They still had shaky moments early on but they were a shoo-in for seeding. Their jostling with the Phoenix Suns may have caused some concern but Kevin Durant’s self-admitted ‘embarrassing’ performance saw them knocked out at the semifinals. From there, the Nuggets handled the Lakers despite everything LeBron and Davis threw at them. Standing in their way was Nikola Jokić.
Against LeBron, Jokić’s shorter career becomes obvious. The Joker only has 12,054 career points with an average of 20.2 points, 10.5 rebounds and 6.6 assists. This season alone, those numbers become 24.5, 11.8 and 9.8.
As a loyal weapon of the Nuggets, Jokić’s ten years with them have only seen him get better, as his lumbering, almost clumsy-looking yet impenetrable play style still baffles pundits. There’s no doubt he was the unknown quantity that took the Nuggets all the way to the Finals this year, though point guard Jamal Murray carried more than his weight too. Jokić also laid claim to a record this year:
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Author: Team Dunkest
May 25, 2023 | 5:17 am
