{"id":78275,"date":"2024-05-21T15:36:00","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T19:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=78275"},"modified":"2024-05-21T15:36:00","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T19:36:00","slug":"past-top-nba-pick-hopes-to-never-see-multi-time-mvp-play-again-evan-turner-nikola-jokic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/05\/21\/past-top-nba-pick-hopes-to-never-see-multi-time-mvp-play-again-evan-turner-nikola-jokic\/","title":{"rendered":"Past Top NBA Pick Hopes to Never See Multi-Time MVP Play Again"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After the Denver Nuggets&#8217; recent playoff elimination, former NBA wing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/turneev01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-21_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Evan Turner<\/a> took to X to speak his truth about Nuggets star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jokicni01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-21_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nikola Jokic<\/a>. During Denver&#8217;s Game 7 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Turner said he does not want to see Jokic play again.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">I sound like a hater but I don&#8217;t wanna see Jokic play another game<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Evan Turner (@thekidet) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thekidet\/status\/1792377055968911835?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 20, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In a follow-up post, Turner likened watching the three-time MVP to watching baseball.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">It&#8217;s like watching baseball<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Evan Turner (@thekidet) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thekidet\/status\/1792377310143811779?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 20, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Despite <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/04\/22\/lakers-legend-compares-nikola-jokic-to-two-all-timers\/\" target=\"_self\">Jokic<\/a> being one of the most successful NBA players in recent history, he does not possess a flashy game. Furthermore, the former NBA champion is not one to dominate the highlight reels. On the contrary, other recent MVPs like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/antetgi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-21_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Giannis Antetokounmpo<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryst01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-21_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephen Curry<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/embiijo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-21_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Joel Embiid<\/a> are typically considered more &#8220;fun&#8221; to watch.<\/p>\n<p>Regardless of Turner&#8217;s comments, Jokic is one of the most dominant players in the NBA. In each of the last four seasons, the Serbian native has either won the MVP award or a championship. Additionally, he has finished top-ten in MVP voting every season since 2018-19.<\/p>\n<h3>Nikola Jokic Receives Praise From NBA Legends<\/h3>\n<p>While Turner may not be Jokic&#8217;s biggest fan, other past NBA personalities have opened up about their thoughts on the Nuggets big man. Recently, Hall of Famer <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/waltobi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-21_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bill Walton<\/a> praised Jokic, calling him &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2024\/02\/24\/bill-walton-nikola-jokic-greatest-basketball-players-ever\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">one of the great [sic] basketball players ever.<\/a>&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cHis celebration of life through basketball, his focus on the team \u2026 he\u2019s better than perfect. He\u2019s Nikola Jokic,\u201d Walton told The Denver Post. \u201cHe\u2019s the best player in the world. I watch a lot of Denver Nuggets basketball, and every time I watch, I just get a smile on my face. It\u2019s fantastic.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s one of the great basketball players ever,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a disservice to (Jokic) to limit him. He\u2019s an incredible scorer. He\u2019s a fantastic rebounder. He\u2019s an incredible passer. He\u2019s an incredible teammate. He has it all. Don\u2019t try to limit him. Don\u2019t try to box him in. Because with Nikola Jokic, there are no limits.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Additionally, Los Angeles Lakers star <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-21_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a> spoke about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2024\/04\/19\/lebron-james-nikola-jokic-best\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jokic<\/a> after their first-round playoff matchup this year.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cHe\u2019s one of the best players to ever play this game. It\u2019s that simple,\u201d James said after practice on Friday at Ball Arena.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe changes the way his teammates think about their own play,\u201d James said. \u201cWhen you are able to inspire your teammates at a level that they don\u2019t feel like they can play at, that\u2019s a true testament.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h3>The Last Word on Evan Turner&#8217;s Comments About Nikola Jokic<\/h3>\n<p>Regardless of how you feel about Jokic, it is impossible to argue against his recent success. In addition to being a one-time NBA champion and a three-time NBA MVP, Jokic is also a six-time NBA All-Star. Additionally, he is only 29 years old. Realistically, Jokic could remain a dominant force in the league for another decade or so. Although the Nuggets failed to win back-to-back titles, they will always be serious contenders with Jokic on the team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After the Denver Nuggets&#8217; recent playoff elimination, former NBA wing Evan Turner took to X to speak his truth about Nuggets star Nikola Jokic. During Denver&#8217;s Game 7 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Turner said he does not want to see Jokic play again. I sound like a hater but I don&#8217;t wanna see Jokic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4631,"featured_media":77691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,20,2,62,3],"tags":[1054,183,38,72],"class_list":["post-78275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nuggets","category-featured","category-nba","category-news","tag-bill-walton","tag-evan-turner","tag-lebron-james","tag-nikola-jokic"],"modified_by":"Elie Deglaoui","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4631"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}