Myles Turner explains the difference in defending Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic

When it comes to the best players in the league at the moment, the conversations have to start at the big man position. Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid and Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic are at the top of those debates in the NBA.

Embiid is coming off a season where he won MVP after averaging 33.1 points and 10.2 rebounds while shooting 54.8% from the floor. Jokic had an equally as impressive season averaging 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 9.8 assists. He then averaged 30.0 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 9.5 assists in the playoffs to lead the Nuggets to their first NBA title.

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Indiana Pacers big man Myles Turner has had experience defending both players and he hopped on “Gil’s Arena” with former NBA star Gilbert Arenas and he offered up the difference in defending Jokic and Embiid.

Please be advised that the clip below contains language that some might consider offensive.

He’s doing every (expletive) thing. He’s getting people involved. He does not have to score to actually like, have an emphasis on that game. He can really go out there and just piss you off because now you’re starting to get pissed off at your teammates. ‘What the (expletive)? Stop letting this (expletive) back door! Stay attached! Stay attached!’ That can (expletive) with you a little bit more. Now, if a guy’s coming at you and just dominating like a Shaq (O’Neal)-type presence, a Joel Embiid-type presence, and dunking, that might do a little bit something to your mentality, but you also know you have your team. The team has your back.

It’s like ‘OK. We can just double him real quick’. You can’t double Jokic. As soon as you double him it’s like, ‘Oh, OK’ and he’s just gonna pass to the next guard. So it’s an interesting perspective. I would say Jokic pissed me off a little bit more because now I’m looking at my team, like ‘Guys, come on!’ Whereas Embiid, I have a fighting chance of actually being able to guard him one-on-one. So as well as he might get you in foul trouble, (expletive) like that, you’re gonna get a couple of stops here and…with Jokic, you have to really like come together. You get a foul, he’s gonna go to the free throw like and it’s like ‘Guys, the (expletive) are we doing here?’ Like, it pisses you off a little more because you can’t control it. Embiid you can control a little more. Jokic, it’s like there’s stuff that’s out of your control and when he wants to go score, it’s like (expletive) it. I’ll shoot some fall away (expletive) (expletive).