"Not like this": Kevin Garnett disagrees with Paul Pierce's take on ’08 Celtics playing like ’23 Nuggets

Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets have taken the NBA by storm. Despite the fact that he may not be the fastest or the most agile player on the court, Jokic has a deep bag and elite vision that makes him a multifaceted threat. At the same time, while many have been dismissive of his defensive abilities, Jokic currently sits in the top three for deflections and deflections per game.

During a recent episode of their Ticket & The Truth podcast, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce spoke about Jokic's game, and the Nuggets' emergence as an elite team. After Garnett praised the big man, Pierce said that the Nuggets playing with a dominant big man like Jokic isn't that far off from the 2008 Celtics playing with Garnett.

As the Hall of Fame big man was quick to point out, he and the Celtics didn't have anyone who could impact the game like Nikola Jokic. Nor did they impact the league in the same way Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets have.

"Not like this, not like this. ... That's the Joker effect to me," Garnett said. "He's affecting the league so much that I'm watching the league kind of, you know, when Golden State won, everybody wanted to go quick now. Everybody want to play quick fast and get the 4 and 1, you remember that sh*t?

"Sacramento bit off of that. Other teams bit off that, nobody did it like Golden State. Denver is starting to affect the league."

Nikola Jokic's impressive play this year for the Denver Nuggets in Jamal Murray's absence

Despite the fact that Nikola Jokic is a two-time MVP and a reigning NBA champion, he has still managed to take his game to yet another level. As previously mentioned, Jokic's defense has improved, with the big man in the top three for deflections and deflections per game.

In addition, he has managed to post a career-high 28.6 points per game through the first 19 games of the season. In addition, he has notably also averaged 12.7 rebounds per game, an improvement over last year's 11.8 per game.

With a unique blend of abilities that allow him to impact the game in a number of ways, many feel as though we have never truly seen a player like Nikola Jokic. Between his back-to-back MVPs and his recent NBA championship win, the Serbian superstar's game has drawn quite a bit of attention.

Currently, despite Joel Embiid being the reigning MVP, Jokic sits as the favorite to win the MVP award across all major sportsbooks, and by a pretty big margin. On DraftKings, for example, Jokic is in first place for MVP odds at +155, with Luka Doncic in second at +750.

Although the team has notably been without Jamal Murray for 11 games this season, Nikola Jokic has managed to keep them as a top-two team in the West. With Michael Malone's team proving that they're one of the best in the league despite Murray's absence, it's clear that Garnett was right about their impact.