DENVER (AP) — In what the Denver Nuggets took as its latest sign of disrespect, ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters revealed she had not seen two-time MVP Nikola Jokic play before Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Jokic scored 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists in Denver’s 132-126 win Tuesday night.
“This is really the first time I’ve had the chance to watch him play, and I have to admit, I fell asleep on this guy. He’s amazing. He’s ridiculously good,” Salters told Rich Eisen Show host Susie Schuster the next day.
It’s been a decade since I’ve worked a game in Denver, she explained, and she can’t recall watching Jokic, who is in his eighth NBA season, on the road or in the Conference Finals in the 2020 Florida bubble, also against the Lakers.
The revelation came shortly after Mark Jackson, an ESPN analyst who called the series, apologized for leaving Jokic off the five-man MVP ballot. Jokic appeared in 99 other papers from a panel of voters. Jackson explained that he filled out his ballot like the All-NBA Team, with one player per position, with Joel Embiid as his position.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone said before Game 2 Thursday night that he used to overlook his team.
“There are people who still kind of identify with Nikola Jokic and the guy just put in a 34-21-14 performance, and by the way, he averaged triples in the playoffs,” Malone quipped.
Salters said she texted her friends during the first match to say how much she liked Jokic, “and they were like, ‘We’ve been trying to tell you that. ‘” “I confess… I hadn’t paid much attention to him.”
Watching him face-to-face left her transfixed, she added: “Dude is awesome.”
ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins accused Jokic of beating the stats in March, sparking outrage and sparking controversy that some felt helped propel the MVP race to Embiid.
Jokic’s second-place finish in the poll kept him from joining Hall of Famers Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, and Bill Russell as back-to-back MVP winners.
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