“He’s one of the best players to ever play this game. It’s that simple.” LeBron James kept it simple when discussing Nikola Jokic’s greatness last season. After all, the Joker recorded the league’s first 30-20-20 triple-double while also leading the league with 34 total triple-doubles on the season. The Denver Nuggets superstar center can do it all. But a former teammate of LeBron explained how this ties to their battle during the 2020 ‘Bubble era’.

Dwight Howard appeared on the former Nuggets and current Nets star Michael Porter Jr’s podcast. While speaking about Jokic, the host admitted to the 3x DPOY, “That’s why I got to give you so much flowers because like, these dudes really be trying to they give him no issues. You’re like probably one of the only dudes that I’ve seen actually somewhat like give him some resistance and all that. Yeah, that’s why it’s so crazy. Like, I see him do whatever he wants.”

Spending 6 seasons and 398 games with Jokic, MPJ has seen the evolution of his former teammate starting from the 2020 WCF in the bubble. That was the first playoff appearance in seven years for the Lakers. Along with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard was also instrumental despite having limited minutes. They would convincingly beat the Nuggets in the WCF, and Dwight says this helped ignite a fire in the Joker. “So it’s like, I really think when we played them in the bubble, I think that set a fire in him (Nikola Jokic). Like, man, ‘No way. I gotta, I gotta win now. I gotta go back and get better.’”

In the five-game series, AD led with 31.2 points, while LeBron was behind with 27 points. For the Nuggets, Jamal Murray was the top scorer with 25 points, and Jokic averaged just 21.8 points per game. Continuing the conversation, Howard added, ” And then I could tell in his game, like I watched him slim down a little bit, but you know, I could just see bursts when he’s playing, he’s moving faster. He’s getting into actions fast. I watch it before the games, he doing dunks and stuff. So I’m like, I ain’t do actually. Like he took his game to another level…” Statistically, the difference was also visible.

That’s why even the Serbian called it his toughest for him. “I think – that was the bubble, right? When [the Lakers] had three or four bigs.” Since that Bubble season, the Nuggets superstar would average 26.8 points per season. Not to forget bringing in the first and only championship to the Mile High City. Let’s not forget, in that period, Jokic has successfully won 3x MVPs, and last season, despite not winning the MVP, he had a career-high season in points (29.6) and assists (10.2), alongside grabbing 12.7 boards on a nightly basis.

Dwight Howard’s blueprint could help the other 29 teams stop Nikola Jokic

Keeping last year’s exploits in mind, ESPN, in its latest survey, predicted the Joker as the MVP with a whopping 67% of the votes. Despite the praise, there is a chink in his armor. Previously, Dwight Howard explained it very eloquently. “My goal is to tire him out…Hitting him in the chest, boxing him out. Every time I’m hitting him somewhere, I’m doing something illegal.” This is true as the modern NBA game shifts away from physical post-battles.

So, offensively, Nikola Jokic produces insane numbers. But defensively, there are issues, as his lateral quickness in open space is constrained by his athletic profile. That’s why the opponents shot 70% at the rim when Jokic was on the court, which is his worst rim protection mark in his career. Plus, with Joker on the floor, the team allowed 4.5 more points per 100 possessions in 2024-25 than they did in ’23-24. So, it’s true that in certain 1v1 situations, the other teams would get the better of the Nuggets superstar.

That’s why the addition of a traditional Big in Jonas Valanciunas makes more sense. He can not only provide a breather for the Joker, but also adds another dimension to the team, at least on the defensive front.