“I’m still not gonna say he’s top 20 right now…His body of work is definitely impressive; the game has changed completely since Jokic’s been in the game (but) I don’t see top 20, and that’s no knock to him because what he’s doing is special. But top 20 right now? Not. I don’t even wanna say this, but if he stopped playing today, would we say that the Joker was a top 20 player in the NBA? I don’t agree. He wouldn’t be top 20,” stated Morris on ESPN’s First Take.

Many believe his comments carry a personal edge. That is mostly because of the incident between Nikola Jokic and his brother Markieff Morris in 2021. Since this season, Jokic continues to dominate. He is averaging a triple-double with 29.8 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 10.2 assists per game. Because of that, even respected voices like Steve Kerr call him the greatest center in NBA history.

Nikola Jokic has had an extraordinary impact on the game. So, saying he is not one of the 20 best players in NBA history feels unfair. Especially when you consider how much he influences different areas of the court. He creates plays, scores efficiently, and defends with purpose. His ability to dominate both offensively and defensively puts him in a rare category. Even so, many still seem to underrate him. That might be because he is still active.

Former NBA guard Raymond Felton claims Nikola Jokic is bigger than Kevin Durant

Nikola Jokic’s season has caught the attention of the entire NBA community. The three-time MVP continues to impress. He has led the Denver Nuggets to the top of the Western Conference. His consistency and dominance have made headlines across the league. Because of that, former NBA guard Raymond Felton did not hold back in his praise. He even made a surprising comparison with Kevin Durant.

“KD (is) probably one of the best scorers we are ever going to see. At seven feet (tall), that can put the ball on the floor, that can score midrange, shoot the three (and) can handle the ball. But Jokic can possibly be the best big we ever see,” stated Felton on To The Baha podcast.

Even, Felton considers that Nikola Jokic belongs now to the same category as Stephen Curry. He argued that he has already changed the game, as Curry did. For that reason, he considers there will never the another player as Jokic on NBA.

During a debate with Stephen A. Smith on ESPN, Marcus Morris Sr. was asked if Curry was the most feared player in the NBA right now. “I wouldn’t go as far as to say Steph Curry. He’s very respectable, everyone knows Steph Curry, if not the best point guard to ever play the game, right? I gotta disagree with you,” Morris began.

“You know who I’m going to go to? And I know this is not going to be your favorite, but I’m gonna talk about number two over there with the Clipper Nation, baby. I’m going with Kawhi Leonard,” Marcus surprised his co-host, sparking immediate disbelief.

“The reason why is because Kawhi, healthy, is a totally different player,” continued the former Los Angeles Clippers power forward. “Kawhi, offensively, defensively, you don’t want him even near the ball. And the way he carries teams when he’s healthy, he’s the best player to be paired up with.”

The Clippers’ confidence in Leonard

Kawhi Leonard faced serious physical issues during the first half of the 2024-25 NBA regular season. He needed an extended period to recover from knee problems, delaying his debut until January 2025. During that time, James Harden took on the responsibility of keeping the Los Angeles Clippers afloat, a task he fulfilled admirably.

Now that Leonard has been playing consistently for almost two months, logging more and more minutes, Tyronn Lue’s team has found a rhythm that allows them to enter the final stretch of the regular season in strong form. They’ve won 12 of their last 15 games and are currently in the seventh seed in the West, though they are tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Memphis Grizzlies at 44-32.

Leonard’s season

Since returning to the court earlier this year, Kawhi Leonard has demonstrated his tremendous impact, posting numbers that rank him among the most impactful players in the league. The two-time NBA champion and Finals MVP with the San Antonio Spurs and Toronto Raptors is averaging 31.3 minutes, 20.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.0 assists over 32 games.

“I felt Anthony Davis was in LeBron’s way,” Marcus Morris said during a recent interview on the Kevin O’Connor Show. He immediately gave the explanation for his surprising opinion: “LeBron is really a four now and that’s the position that Anthony Davis wanted to play.”

On James‘ style of play at this stage of his professional career, Morris considered: “He’s always on the box, he wasn’t really stretching the three that well.” He then analyzed what Doncic’s arrival meant: “Now you add another guard. Not even just another guard, let’s make that clear, you add a top-five guard in the NBA that can get it from anywhere.”

The former Cleveland Cavaliers power forward then talked about LeBron and Luka‘s on-court chemistry. “It’s a matchup nightmare,” he said. “When 77 walks in the building, OKC, Minnesota, Phoenix, Clippers – they dread seeing him. And now he has 23 on his back.” He then joked: “What does that equal? 100. Anytime it equals to a hundred, hey man, you got a problem … if LeBron and Luka stay healthy.”

Morris is confident in the Lakers

In the same chat with Kevin O’Connor, Marcus Morris talked about the team he believes will be the favorite this year in the NBA. “I’m gonna go with the Lakers,” he said. “Whenever you have LeBron James and Luka Doncic as your primary ball handlers and AR (Austin Reaves) as a third option, I love that because you can put the ball in each of these guys’ hands.”

LeBron James’ change of style

When the trade between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks was confirmed, many focused their attention on the fact that Anthony Davis would finally be able to play power forward in Dallas, his favorite position, and would no longer be forced to play center, as had been the norm in Los Angeles.

However, the trade also had a similar effect on LeBron James’ game. The reconfiguration of the Lakers‘ roster in recent months included the departure of guards like D’Angelo Russell and Max Christie, which allowed Austin Reaves to take on an even bigger role alongside Luka Doncic. And that, in turn, allowed LeBron to disengage a little more from the creative phase to take advantage of his teammates’ assists and play closer to the rim.

Marcus Morris isn’t the first former NBA player to note this change in James’ role. “I gotta get LeBron a lot of credit, because he has accepted the role of being a finisher instead of a starter,” Charles Barkley recently said on TNT. And Carmelo Anthony, on his 7PM in Brooklyn podcast, considered: “All the passes that LeBron was throwing to Anthony Davis, Luka is capable of making those same exact passes. The roles is reversed now. He’s AD right now, and Luka is him.”

In the past week, LiAngelo Ball signed a 1-year deal with the Charlotte Hortnets to play for them with a salary of$1,017,781 dollars,according to the specialized site, Spotrac. So, after 4 years in the league, LaMelo will have his older brother with him.

In fact,LiAngelo already played for Michael Jordan’s franchise, but was cut right before the last season. Then, he went to the NBA G League’s draft andspent the last season as a Greensboro Swarm player.There, LiAngelo got the chance to show off his skills and earned his way back to the Hortnets.

NBA: Ball Brothers and similar cases who played together in the NBA

Now that the two of the three Ball Brothers will join forces to play for the Charlotte Hornets, its time to review other pair of brothers who did the same at least for one season in the National Basketball Association. This is tiny list is composed by brothers who played together in the same franchise, not only in the NBA.

For example, Marcus and Markieff Morris played together for two and half seasons in the Phoenix Suns, then, Marcus was traded away to the Detroit Pistons. Then, there’sJustin and Jrue Holiday, who managed to playtogether in thePhiladelphia76ers for one season.

Also, there’s the Lopez brothers Robin and Brook who played together in the Milwaukee Bucks for a season. Finally, the Antetokounmpo brothers who managed to win an NBA Championship with the Bucks in 2021, while theirbrother Thanasis won with the Los AngelesLakers.

Morris stepped on his injured ankle in Game 5. Doncic and social media called him out for purposely trying to hurt him, so he took it to his Twitter account to say that he’s a competitor and not a dirty player.

And, in case people were wondering whether he did that on purpose or not, Morris shoved Doncic in the head with a dirty and unnecessary foul just 10 minutes into Game 6, thus being ejected with a flagrant two foul.

Doncic had to be contained to not retaliate, as he has clearly infuriated at Morris’ dirty attempts to hurt him or take him out of the game, and once again criticized him following his team’s loss by claiming that he didn’t want to deal with that kind of player.

Marcus Morris Mocks Luka Doncic Following Dirty Foul And Playoff Exit

Things got even worse when Bleacher Report posted the quote of Doncic’s critics towards Morris on Instagram. Marcus didn’t take the high road and instead mocked the Mavs’ star by commenting ‘Cry me a river. Clips in 6’.

Morris has earned a reputation around the league for that kind of behavior and the NBA may look into that foul and comment to enforce a bigger penalty on him. So, if there were any doubts about Marcus’ intentions to hurt Doncic in Game 5, I think that pretty much clears the air. It’s ok to compete at the highest level, especially in the playoffs, but there’s just no room for dirty fouls in the game.

More impressively, Doncic has done most of his damage with a hurt ankle. He rolled it badly during the Clippers’ triumph in Game 3 but that hasn’t stopped him from stepping up when his team needs him most, even knocking down an epic game-winning three-pointer in overtime on Game 4.

That’s why the Clippers’ tough and physical defense needs to do a better job at trying to keep him in check, especially with Kristaps Porzingis out with a knee injury. However, it seems like Marcus Morris may have taken it a bit too far.

Luka Doncic Thinks Marcus Morris Tried To Hurt Him

The controversial forward appeared to intentionally step on Doncic’s bad ankle. He had a lot of space to move, yet he happened to step right there. Needless to say, the Slovenian star didn’t care for that ‘unintentional’ gesture:

“I have my own thoughts. I hope it wasn’t intentional. Tell me, what do you think? I don’t want to talk to him. He’s just saying a lot of bad stuff to me all the game. I just don’t want to talk to him. I just want to move on. Like I say, everybody is going to have their own opinion. I just hope it wasn’t intentional. If that was intentional, that’s really bad,” Doncic said.

Marcus Morris Fired Back At Critics

Morris was quick to deny the rumors and shut down the narrative of him stepping on Doncic’s bad ankle on purpose, claiming he plays the game with respect and that he wasn’t going to apologize because he didn’t do anything.

“I play this game with a level of respect for myself and other players. To think I would try to injure somebody is crazy to me. 10 years going against the best. I stand on morals and hard work. I compete and leave it out there every game. Basketball has never been that serious to try to hurt somebody. I’m not apologizing for s— because I know what I put into this game day in and day out. It was a mistake deal with it. Competing is why I play,” Morris tweeted.

Marcus’ NBA reputation precedes him. He’s well-known for trying to get into his rival’s head and being a bit too physical from time to time. We’ll have to give him the benefit of the doubt but honestly, the footage doesn’t help his case.