Draymond Green was lamenting how pundits and fans are attaching one descriptor or another to players who like Nikola Jokic are mutli-talented seven-footers or near seven-footers. It’s silly, he said.
“We
got the Jewish Joker, now. We got the Baby Joker [Alpern Sengun, Derik Queen]. Enough, man,” said Green oh his podcast last week. He could have also added the Chinese Jokic, Hansen Yang, to his list. “I have to f–king guard Joker. You mean to tell me everyone’s just Joker? F–k out of here. No disrespect to Danny Wolf; I haven’t played against him. But enough of comparing everybody to Joker.”
Wolf, the Nets point center, doesn’t really disagree, but in comments to both Erik Slater and Brian Lewis, he said he’s flattered by the description.
“I don’t know the number, but a lot of my friends and family sent me that clip. Yeah, it was definitely pretty funny,” Wolf told The Post. “I didn’t really react much to it. I don’t have too much of an opinion. I mean, being compared to the greatest player in the world right now obviously is cool.
“But there’s obviously this trend of slapping the term Jokic on younger bigs who can pass and play-make. But in all honesty, I don’t really play that much like him. Obviously, I’m a bigger guy with a different, unique kind of game. I don’t really have too many thoughts on [Green,] but yeah, it was definitely an interesting clip.”
Wolf noted to Slater that he plays a “unique game” not unlike the Denver Nuggets center but different…
“It’s kind of an easy thing to slap on young bigs who can kinda pass the ball because Jokic in our day and age is the prime example of that,” the 21-year-old Michigan and Yale product told Slater. “Obviously, I’ve only been in the league a little bit but but I play a unique game. Definitely, there are some things to it that aren’t as normal in the NBA so to speak and obviously it’s a compliment to be compared to, in my opinion, but I think my game is different than his.”
“I don’t have too much of a comment on it but it’s definitely a complement.”
Of course, Wolf is nowhere near Jokic’s production, but the 27th pick last June — 14 places ahead where Jokic was taken in the 2014 NBA Draft (famously during a Taco Bell commercial.) has bloomed of late, as Lewis noted.
Wolf went into Thursday first among qualified rookies in Net Rating (+8.3), and second in plus/minus (+2.8 per game), behind only the Sixers’ VJ Edgecombe.
And as far as questions about hiding him on defense? He was third in the NBA in Defensive Rating (98.5), and his Defensive Field Goal Percentage of 40 percent led all rookies who’d faced over 30 shots.
The one-time member of Israel’s junior national team admitted to Lewis that he carries a chip on his shoulder about those doubts.
“There were a lot of questions from teams and front offices as to who I could guard. I took that as a chip on my shoulder to prove that I can more than guard in this league,” Wolf said. “But it’s a work in progress, and I need to continue to get quicker and stronger.
“Over the summer, I just really repped out my shot, and I knew in pre-draft and my workouts I was shooting the crap out of the ball. … And I’ve been in an organization that wants to shoot 3s. The coaches trust me shooting, my teammates trust me, so whenever I’m open I’m gonna let it fly.”
- Danny Wolf isn’t worrying about his Jewish Joker nickname — or Draymond Green’s thoughts about it – Brian Lewis – New York Post
