Right after winning their first-ever championship – franchise-wise and player-wise – Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray are now getting comparisons to one of the best duos the NBA has seen – Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. Although Jokic and Murray are very different from Bean and The Diesel, let’s settle the debate on why we think that Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic are the new Kobe-Shaq duo.
Murray-Jokic: The new Kobe-Shaq
Denver Nuggets finally wins their first championship since joining the league 47 years ago. All thanks to the two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and the very underrated point guard Jamal Murray. The Nuggets were certainly heavily favored to win the 2023 NBA championship considering that they are the first seed in the Western Conference.
In the 2023 NBA Finals against the Miami Heat, both Jokic and Murray were stellar. The Joker leads the team in almost major stat (points, assists, rebounds) by putting up 30 PPG, 13.5 RPG, and 9.5 APG averages in the Finals. On the other hand, Murray became a different beast in the playoffs, and the Finals were no different. He improved from averaging 20 points per game in the regular season to putting up 26.1 points per game in the final series.
Jokic and Jamal this playoffs:
Joker — Murray —
30.0 PPG 26.1 PPG
13.5 RPG 5.7 RPG
9.5 APG. 7.1 APGBest Finals run by a duo since ___ pic.twitter.com/VUooZZpzPR
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 13, 2023
In addition to that, the 26-year-old guard shows up especially when the team needed him most. These stat lines are probably one of the best Finals run by a duo since … you guessed it, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. Well, we witnessed how exceptional LeBron James and Anthony Davis were in 2020, LeBron and Kyrie Irving in 2016, and Steph Curry and Kevin Durant in 2018, but this year, something feels different.
In the 2001 and 2002 NBA Finals, we saw how dangerous the duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal would be had they stayed together for more seasons
At this time, Kobe Bryant was still far from his peak version but he is already putting amazing numbers. Alongside him is probably the most dominant center of all time, Shaquille O’Neal. In the 2001 NBA Finals, Kobe averaged 24.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 5.8 assists against that year’s MVP Allen Iverson. The Sixers had 4-time Defensive Player of the Year Dikembe Mutombo, but even he couldn’t stop Shaq’s 33 points and 15.8 rebounds average in the Finals.
Then, the following year, the Kobe-Shaq duo became more unstoppable. The Los Angeles Lakers faced a well-rounded New Jersey Nets team led by Jason Kidd. Unfortunately, the Nets would get swept in the 2002 NBA Finals. Kobe, in 4 games, put up 26.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 5.3 assists a night while Shaq had a whopping 36.3 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 2.8 blocks per game. Clearly, that Lakers team was en route to becoming a dynasty for many years. But, the beef between the two superstars got in the way.
So, is the Jokic-Murray tandem the new Kobe-Shaq duo?
It’s still too early to say that Jokic and Murray are on the same air as Kobe and Shaq during their championship years. But, with how well these two players are with each other and the success they just had after only being together for only 7 years (both drafted by the Nuggets), it would be safe to assume they are the best one-two punch in the league right now. We thought James Harden and Joel Embiid would have taken that crown, but they just showed they really weren’t the best fit for each other.
On a side note, Jokic could go down in the top 5 best centers of all time once he retires, and Murray is a borderline All-star every season. Plus, they are really good friends. One could say that they could win more championships if they will stay together.
Did you know that Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray were teammates in a Nike Hoop Summit game 9 years ago?
In 2014, Nike Hoop Summit organized a game between Team USA and Team World. Both teams have consisted of talented players from all over the globe against the best in the U.S. The game took place on April 8, 2014, and everyone was talking about future All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns (Dominican Republic). However, little did everyone know, they would be witnessing two of the best players today play on that same team.
An unknown center from Serbia shared the floor with a skilled point guard from Canada. These talented young men … were Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. Unknowingly, people already had a glance at how great these two players would become in the NBA. Jokic was only a backup to Towns but had an amazing outing. On the other hand, Murray had his moments on the court with his signature pull-up jumpers. Back then, these two foreign players were still trying their best to get the attention of NBA scouts. Now, 9 years later, they are NBA champions.
Do you agree with our take? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below. For more content, stay with us here at Spiel Times. Make sure you subscribe to our push notifications and never miss an update. You can also follow us on Spiel Anime, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. Until next time!
