Dan Le Batard made waves yesterday when he railed against the United States for not embracing Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic as a national celebrity. But of all the rebuttals to Le Batard’s point, it was Kevin Durant who may have had the best one.
In a since-deleted tweet, Durant retweeted Le Batard saying that Jokic would be bigger star if he were an American by stating that Jokic simply doesn’t want to be a star.
“I don’t think jokic wants or cares to be a star. Go to work and go home, FaceTime his horses and hop in the pool,” Durant wrote.
Even though the former NBA Finals MVP deleted the tweet, some Twitter users screen-captured and shared it. The basketball world on Twitter largely agreed with Durant’s point as well.
Jokic is a star.
He just doesn’t care to act like we’ve come to expect a star to act. Which is exactly why I like him. Same goes for Giannis. https://t.co/btqnP3j6du
— Tavan Parker (@TavanParker) June 7, 2023
You can’t be mad at this cause Jokic basically said this Himself and he plans to disappear after retiring in like 8-10 yrs https://t.co/1Q2dOdYhtQ
— glooksbro (@nbisadog16) June 7, 2023
who doesn’t want to facetime their horses, this is accurate and the dream https://t.co/7yS249asld
— Brian Floyd (@BrianMFloyd) June 7, 2023
He’s literally right if any superstar doesn’t care about being the face of the league why should we care https://t.co/TBQUFmK61b
— keion (@BucketHatKeion) June 7, 2023
If Nikola Jokic doesn’t want to be a national star and enjoy the benefits – and drawbacks – that come with that status then he’s within his rights to deny that opportunity.
Whether he wants to be a star or not, this NBA postseason and the NBA Finals have cemented Jokic as one of the elite players not just in the association today, but all-time.
Do you agree with Kevin Durant’s take on Nikola Jokic?