Heat's Bam Adebayo on Nikola Jokić: 'He Don't Flop...He's Trying to Get Buckets'
Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo gave plenty of praise to Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić on the latest edition of The OGs with ex-NBA players Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem (31-minute mark).
Adebayo said that he believed Jokić was the toughest player in the league before adding this comment
"The thing that like I most like about him is he don't flop...he not trying to get 16-17 free throws. He tryin' to get buckets."
That's an interesting note after Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr lamented officials "legislating defense out of the game" after his team fell 120-114 to the Denver Nuggets. Jokić notably shot 18 of Denver's 32 free throws, making them all.
"I have a problem with the way we are legislating defense out of the game," Kerr said, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
"We're just enabling players to BS their way to the foul line. If I were a fan, I wouldn't have wanted to watch the second half. It was disgusting."
Jokić gave his take on his free throw count afterward, per ESPN's Kendra Andrews.
"I was missing shots, so I was just trying to be aggressive in another way, maybe play a little more physical," Jokić told Andrews. "It just happened to be that kind of night. This is the most I've ever had."
His 10.1 free throw attempts rank seventh in the league and second among centers behind the Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid.
As it stands, the reigning NBA Finals MVP is off to another great start with 26.4 points, 12.3 rebounds and 9.2 assists per game. His Nuggets rank second in the Western Conference with a 22-10 record.
