For all the dominance Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic continue to deliver, not everyone is ready to say their games could have carried over to another time. Chicago Bulls Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen has weighed in as a skeptic on that topic.
Pippen, renowned for his defensive skills, spent the bulk of his career in the 1990s, an era remembered for its physicality and hard-nosed defense. From that perspective, Pippen has now questioned how Doncic and Jokic could have responded to that environment, even going as far as suggesting they may not have dominated.
“I don’t know if they could dominate. In the 80s and 90s we used to press all over the field. Could Jokic bring the ball up against such pressure? I don’t know. Sure, he can see the court and pass very well. But I don’t know if he would be comfortable bringing the ball up from the back with that pressure.”
This isn’t exactly fresh ground. We’ve heard this song before with Dennis Rodman saying LeBron James would’ve been average in the 90s, and Charles Barkley saying Stephen Curry would’ve broken down. Doncic and Jokic are simply the latest stars added to that debate.
Pippen is entitled to his opinion, yet at the end of the day, it’s hard to convince most fans that these two couldn’t have fit right into the 90s.
