{"id":212080,"date":"2025-10-14T06:38:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T06:38:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/212080\/"},"modified":"2025-10-14T06:38:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T06:38:09","slug":"nba-champion-claims-losing-to-lakers-in-the-bubble-lit-a-fire-in-nikola-jokic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/212080\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Champion Claims Losing To Lakers In The Bubble “Lit A Fire” In\u00a0Nikola\u00a0Jokic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Denver Nuggets<\/a> superstar Nikola Jokic<\/a> is widely regarded as one of the best players in the NBA<\/a>. Even before winning the NBA title in 2023, Jokic was generating a lot of buzz for his talent and skill. In this regard, NBA champion Dwight Howard<\/a> claimed that it was the Nuggets\u2019 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> in the 2020 playoffs that motivated Jokic to become the player he is today.<\/p>\n

While discussing Nikola Jokic\u2019s rise on the \u201cCurious Mike<\/a>\u201d podcast with Michael Porter Jr.<\/a>, Howard said,\u00a0\u201cI think when we played them in the Bubble, it lit a fire in him [Jokic]. Like, \u2018No way. I\u2019ve got to win. I\u2019ve got to go back and get better.’\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then, I could tell\u00a0in his game, like I watched him slim down a little bit, but I could just see a burst when he was playing. He was moving faster. He\u2019s getting into his actions fast. I watched him before the games, he\u2019s doing dunks and stuff\u2026 He took his game to another level.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael Porter Jr., a former champion with the Nuggets, gave Howard his flowers for being a solid matchup against Jokic, adding that he was the only player who gave the Serbian any difficulty. But he followed up by claiming that after winning his first\u00a0 MVP, Nikola Jokic only improved.<\/p>\n

The Nuggets\u2019 big man won his first MVP award in the 2020-21 season, right after he lost to the Lakers in the Bubble. After averaging 26-10-8 that year, in alignment with Porter Jr.\u2019s comment, Jokic only improved in the following campaign, as he averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, and 7.8 assists per game, securing back-to-back MVP awards.<\/p>\n

Although many would argue that Nikola Jokic deserved the award in the 2022-23 season, too, since he led the Nuggets to a title the same year, the Serbian would be far more content with the NBA title and the Finals MVP in his possession.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Could Nikola Jokic Win It All This Season?<\/p>\n

The 2024-25 season was probably the 30-year-old\u2019s most productive season individually. With an average of 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 10.9 assists per game, Jokic was nearly unstoppable. Unfortunately, a truly historic performance by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a> saw him finish second in the MVP race.<\/p>\n

While this could be considered disappointing, the upcoming season presents a golden opportunity for Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.<\/p>\n

After a series of impressive trades and signings in the offseason, the Nuggets have put together a formidable team<\/a> capable of facing some of the best teams in the league. With a solid blend of star power and depth, the Nuggets are rightfully considered one of the top teams<\/a> in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n

After an inspired performance last season, the Nuggets\u2019 big man will be poised to put on a showcase<\/a> in the new campaign as well. Although he has had to embrace the \u201cunderdog\u201d role for the 2025-26 season<\/a>, it is evident that they are currently the most legitimate threat to dethrone the reigning champions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic is widely regarded as one of the best players in the NBA. Even…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212081,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-212080","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212080\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212081"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}