The New-Age Larry Bird: The Rise of Nikola Jokic in the NBA 

Thank you for this video. Jokic is no doubt the closest thing ever to another Larry Bird. Jokic makes a lot of his plays without being the primary ball handler, which involves lots of touch passes and back door plays, something Bird was known for. Bird would come off screens or set himself in the post to either shoot or make pin point passes down low or to the perimeter, which what Jokic also does in near similar fashion. Jokic just needs an NBA ring and the comparison will more or less become justifiable.

jokic, the white Larry Bird.

You hit the point,i enjoy the video. Joker is true basketball savant,future HOF.

*NIkola is NIkola Jokić!* *Unique in this era of basketball, simple the best!*

the greatest turnaround of a teams record is often overlooked but shows the impact that bird brought with him

You dont even necessarily need the advanced stats to compare the two, honestly. Player A: 26/10/7, 1.8 steals, 0.9 blocks, 50/39/89 shooting. Player B: 26/12/9, 1.3 steals, 0.7 blocks, 59/37/83 shooting. That's remarkably similar production. Player A is Bird's 3 straight MVP seasons averaged. Player B is Jokic's last 3 seasons averaged.

Thanks for the story on Jokic and hopefully he will have that championship this year cuz he has his guys back. From a loyal Nuggets fan.

Well said. He actually made me start watching the NBA again.

Imagine if he added sprinting up and down the court and weightlifting to his game. Unbelievable

Its safe to say that these two are the smartest/Highest basketball IQs of all time. They have to, because they are unable to bolt past you or jump over you.

Pre knee injury / NBA Sabonis Sr. may be an even closer comparison. I see Bird as a taller Luka since they are both primary face up wings that operate from the 'triple threat' position primarily, but can post up too. Also, I don't think either one has ever set a pick. The back to the basket game, dribble hand off / pick setting, passing from the high post, with the ability to step outside the arc that are staples of Jokic's offensive bag were also how the young Sabonis played. Where there is a huge similarity with Larry Bird is the way both weaponize the full court outlet pass after both makes and misses.

I been saying the same thing now all year Totally agree

Pleasure to watch this video. Nice edits. Good information. I hope the Joker can accomplish this. Go Kings!!!

That was great my friend, RESPECT!!!

When Bird won his 3rd, it was asked whether he could supplant the 3 all time big men, Wilt, Bill and Kareem as the greatest of all time. It was the first time I heard anyone talk about the greatest. He retired with 3 MVPs 3 titles, 5 conference championships and 9 all league first team selections and finished in the top 3 in the MVP race 8 times. When Jordan retired the first time, he had 3 MVPs, 3 titles, and 3 conference championships, and 8 all league first team selections and 7 top 3 MVP finishes. Magic by the way won 3 MVPs, 5 titles, 8 conference championships, 9 all league first team selections and 9 top 3 MVPs. So Bird and Magic both matched Jordan in titles and MVPs, but had 2 and 5 more conference championships and 1 more all league first team and 1 and 2 more top 3 MVP finishes when MJ retired the first time. It would be much easier to argue for Magic or Bird who both had their careers shortened than for Jordan prior to Jordan's return. I'd argue that Lebron probably surpassed Jordan's first NBA run at least by the time he won his title in Cleveland as well. At that point he had 3 titles, 4 MVPs, 7 conference championships, 10 all league first teams and 9 top 3 MVP finishes. If we add up total titles, conference titles, MVP top 3s, MVPs and all league first team selections, counting just Jordan's first run, and just Lebron through his win in Cleveland we get (final totals in parentheses): Magic: 34 Lebron: 33 (42) Bird: 28 M.J. 24 (35) Just pointing out that M.J. made his goat case in his second run. Well deserved, but what if?

Bird was an outlier because no one else played like him. And no one else has played like him since he retired. Jokic may be somewhat comparable because like it says in this video, he plays fundamental basketball. But no on has had the court awareness like Bird. He knew where every player was on the court and he had an almost future vision of where the ball was going. There have been many great players but no one saw the court the way Bird did.

Luka still comparable to LB, great vid and thank you YounGala! Cheers

Nikola keeps improving! He doesn't move as well without the ball but he's sort of a floating center, and he keeps learning!!! As for Bird, people not considering him for the top 5 are a bit odd. Consider Bird received 60% of the MVP votes in the 80's. A decade with Kareem, Moses, Magic, ... 79-80 finished 4th 80-81-finished 2nd 81-82 finished 2nd 82-83 finished 2nd 83-84 finished 1st 84-85 finished 1st 85-86 finished 1st 86-87 finished 3rd 87-88 finished 2nd 88-89 n/a only played 6 games 89-90 finished 10th

He dosen't himself too seriously. It just a job that he enjoys. I think he loves horses than basketball but horses dont pay the bills.

No one puts him in top 5? Man he’s legit top 5, even top 3.

probably the best assist man. great champion.

I love watching this vids

Jokic needs to win a title in order to get more respect!

They are very different, Jokic is playing in a game with huge space and is playing different position.

"he makes me smile"

Jokic is a lot like Bird in his shooting, passing and team leadership. But he can also play the low post just like Kevin McHale, and can bully his way to the basket like Shaq.

@YounGala I've only recently got into the NBA and been watching a lot of history stuff and I think this video is pretty spot on. I would like your take on one question though, as i feel like it might have got brushed over in the video. How is Jokic in the clutch? As it is something I heard a lot of praise on Bird for and I'm wondering how Jokic matches up.

Larry Bird is the real GOAT ! And there will never , ever be another Larry Bird !

He's A Lot Like Larry Bird actually

I saw bird his entire career and Jordans bulls years living in Chicago. Jordan was a better athlete. But bird had the touch and smarts.

There will be never be another bird - Magic Johnson. Big bird

Joker has 1 THING thats most like Magic, Bird, Kobe and Jordan - THE WILL TO WIN.

3:05 That's me. No social media. I have no idea who Jokic is.

Moving slower actually allows him to process more around him.

Joker is a combination of Luka and bird

you are right- he has Bird in his bones, but also the footwork of McHale, passing of Sabonis and Walton. To me Jokic seems like untapped potential- if he really worked on the 3 he could shoot a lot better than he does. But it's not what the team needs all the time- ANOTHER BIRD TRAIT- get the ball humming INSIDE and then find the wide open outside guys.

He never won two Championships in a row. During that time it took a TEAM to win, especially with all the great passing.

unfortunately the nba doesnt want him to win another mvp even though he deserves it

I would have thought Wilt was the first point centre tho

Luka is the Son of Bird and Magic if they'd had one

20 10 6. Those career numbers only belong to Bird and Jokic.

N-Bay player of the world!

Bird banged harder than even jokic.. Remember bird got his defensive and offensive rebounds against M.Malone, Barkley, Rodman, Kareem, Hakeem,Ewing, ...yeah different now right? It was tougher. Plus no blood no foul rules. It's not nostalgia bias it's visibly different in my mind. All points, rebounds and assists stats would be lower for jokic. All while ffree throw attempts going up because of foul whistles now.

Bird is not the GOAT, he is the Legend. Let all the others fight over 2nd best. Jokic is the first player I have seen come close to Bird, the rest we shall see in the next 5 years.

Y'all think Jokic can be as good as he is now vs the old school players like Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Hakeem Olajuwon, Yao Ming, Amare Stoudemire, Jermaine Oneal, Shaquille Oneal, Ben Wallace, Chris Webber, and Raheed Wallace.

Jokic obviously student of the game and looks lot like the "legend c

Jokic is both Bird and Magic but his biggest challenge is beating rigged games.

Jokic should have won three straight. At least he won in the finals but mvp should have been his.

If you were unfortunate enough to waste your time watching the allstar game jokic was the second from last man picked which was already a bad start because he is the best player in the league

I watch a lot of Dever basketball and I sometimes wonder watching Jokic what Arvydas Sabonis could’ve been if he’d made it to the league before he was washed up. Sabonis was a bit bigger with a similar skill set. Unrelated, I’m a Sixers fan currently watching Embiid do grown man things to the Cavs and if you don’t think he’s the MVP the way he’s been playing recently, you’re high.

Nahhhhh he reminds me more of Trailblazers Arvadas Sabonis cause Arvadas was doing this before jokic

He got robbed of the MVP. His playoff run showed whe really deserved it.

"old school" Ahaha. It's wonderful the nba players dicorver how to play basket ball 30 years later. We play this kind in europe for decades 😂

I love jokic and he has a cerebral bird-like game. However Larry was a better athlete than people give him credit for and he played all over the court. It's hard to compare a small forward and a center. As for Luca, Luca is just as good a scorer as Bird if not better, watch tapes of both and you'll see the huge difference between them. Bird was a headier player who got more rebounds more steals and affected the game all over the court. Luca only starts playing when he crosses half-court with the ball. That's why Luca despite his great offensive skills is not even close to winning a championship and probably never will win a championship

Just more proof that wrecks the opinions of dopes who say Bird couldn't play in today's game, it's quite the opposite he would be very difficult to stop

Fwiw magic is same player as bird. They was same size.neither one was hugh flyer .both controlled the game and went at their pace. Magic was more of a passer and Bird more of a scorer but same exact body type

Jokic got robbed this year for MVP. It should've been 3 straight for him

The Joker is the real 2023, 3 time MVP. What a total shame that the race issue was deliberately slid in to ruin public perception

I have watched Bird play and was his fan. Larry Bird is far better than Jokic. The only edge Jokic has is height advantage. If not for his early injuries, Bird would most likely dominate the entire NBA for years.

The MVP does not mean anything without the Ring

He's no Larry bird Larry played against much better competition ☝️😊

nooooo, he is THE FIRST JOKIC enough said, damn stupid channels and their click baits

“No one even puts close to the top 5” are you kidding me? This dude probably has Kobe top 5. Bird is easy top 5. Jordan, lebron, wilt, bird

Neither Luka nor Jokic is style of Bird. They have aome similarities.

Bird & Jokic play real basketball not alley play ground ball. If the Refs would call the game according to the real rules all the fake ball player would fall off the stats. Like James who travel more than a tourist,carries the ball more than a mom carries her child. He looks more like a running back when he goes up the lane.🤣

It was a travesty man that he didnt win three in a row but its ok hes got a ring to em now haha 😂 unlike second round embiid

Not a third. Unfortunately, it became a political choice who won.

Bros gotta play better defense tho. No dont give me that defensive stat bs or deflections etc, i watch nuggets games and he gives up so many score inside even garbage teams end up with a 100+

😂not even close jokic great but he ain’t in Larry Bird league

He got robbed

If you can get past skin and height Steph is the closest person to Bird.

Bird wishes he was anywhere near as good as Jokic stop this disrespect