There aren’t many who can say they have played with two all-time greats in LeBron James and Nikola Jokic, but Kentavious Caldwell-Pope can say he has. Caldwell-Pope was a starter on both the Los Angeles Lakers 2020 Championship team as well as the Denver Nuggets 2023 Championship squad, each of whom coincidentally beat the other in the Western Conference Finals in those seasons.
LeBron and Jokic are two of the greatest passers the NBA has ever seen, especially at their size and they make life on their teammates much easier with their high IQ and ability to create open looks. Caldwell-Pope has benefitted greatly by playing with both and sees a lot of similarities between them.
Caldwell-Pope recently appeared on The Draymond Green Show and credited both LeBron and Jokic for making the game much easier and his career great by playing with them on the Lakers and Nuggets, respectively:
“You see Bron on the ball mostly, bringing the ball up, even though Jokic can do the same thing, point-five. Them two guys man, they demand attention as soon as they check the ball in and I just fed off that. I knew them guys would have so much attention on them and I was either gonna get a wide-open shot or we create a wide-open shot and now the defense gotta move because somebody’s open … What made it so much easier, and that’s why I say I don’t see a difference between them two, their IQ is out this world. They can shoot, they got an all-around game. I would say for me, what made my career great playing with them, like they were willing to pass the ball when you open. I don’t care what type of pass it was, if you open they’re gonna try to get it to you. All I had to do was be ready to shoot. Kudos to both of them guys, they made my career better later in my years. Them my brothers.”
While there are definitely some physical differences between the two, the similarities in how they see the game and can control everything with their vision and passing certainly stand out. For Caldwell-Pope that is what makes all the difference is their willingness and ability to pass the ball with either hand at any angle from anywhere on the court.
At that point, as he said, all Caldwell-Pope has to do is be ready to shoot when the ball gets there and he always is, which is why he was an integral part of both the Lakers and Nuggets championship runs.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope believes Lakers should’ve beaten Nuggets in 2024 Playoffs
Of course the Lakers and Nuggets have faced off multiple times recently in the playoffs with this past season’s first-round series going the way of Denver in five games. But the series was extremely close and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope feels that the Lakers probably should’ve came out on top.
Caldwell-Pope recently revealed that the Nuggets felt the Lakers should have beaten them last season, noting that they were ahead at the half in every contest. The Lakers led by double-digits in three of their four losses as well, but just weren’t able to hold on and while most would simply say the better team won, apparently even the victors aren’t sure that was the case.
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