Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has shared the court with Nikola Jokic and LeBron James while playing for Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers respectively. Pope lauded the duo and said both of them have basketball IQ, which is out of the world.
Meanwhile, Caldwell-Pope played for the Los Angeles Lakers from 2017 to 2021. James joined the Lakers in 2018 and the duo won the NBA title in 2020 and thus Pope played with the veteran for three years.
On the other hand, Pope joined Denver Nuggets in 2022 and played with the franchise till 2024 before confirming his new deal with Orlando Magic. Pope won the NBA title with Nikola Jokic in 2023.
Thus, the 31-year-old observed James and Jokic from close quarters and shed light on their game play.
“You see Bron on the ball, mostly, bringing the ball up. Even though Jok can do the same thing, point five, they demand attention as soon as they check the ball in, and I just fed off that,” Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said on Draymond Green show.
“I knew those guys were gonna have so much attention on them, I was gonna either get a wide-open shot, or we create a wide-open shot. Now the defense has gotta move ’cause somebody is open.”
Pope hailed James and Jokic for passing the ball to an open player at the right time.
“I don’t see a difference between those two,” Caldwell-Pope said. “Their IQ is f**king out of this world. For me, what made my career great playing with them, they were willing to pass the ball when you [were] open. All I had to do was be ready to shoot. Kudos to both of those guys, man. They have made my career better later in my years.”
LeBron James is currently part of Team USA for the Paris Olympics.
