'Shaquille O’Neal’s Going to Dunk Every Single Time' – Former Nuggets Forward Says Nikola Jokic Couldn’t Beat Lakers Legend 1-on-1

Although Jokic is his former teammate, Porter had a logical approach as to why the Serbian center would lose to the former Lakers star.

“One-on-one, Shaq is going to win. He’s going to dunk the ball every single time. Nikola, even though he can shoot threes and stuff, is eventually going to miss, and then Shaq’s going to get it back and dunk the ball again. One-on-one, Shaq wins,” Porter said.

Porter might think that his former teammate would end up losing against O’Neal, but he has the ultimate confidence in Jokic if it’s a five-on-five game.

“But in a five-on-five setting, I think Jokic is up there as an all-time great center.”

Nikola Jokic downplayed the Nuggets’ championship chances

Although it’s early in the season, there have been some early-season picks on which team will win the NBA championship. The Nuggets are among the favorites to contend for the title, following their active offseason.

However, Nikola Jokic has put a pause on the narrative that the Nuggets are championship favorites.

“The new players are trying to fit in, and we’re trying to get used to them. We have a lot of weapons in attack and it will only get better. We were contenders at the European Championship, or the World Cup, whatever it was, but we were eliminated early. It’s mostly over. I always have the desire to win, so I approach every game the same way. Last year we didn’t have a team for the title, we’ll see what happens this season,” said Jokic.

Over the summer, Jokic and the Serbian men’s national basketball team were favorites in the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket. However, they finished 12th in the tournament and were eliminated early in the year.

Jokic wants to remain focused on the task at hand at leading the Nuggets this season, and not get taken over by the championship narrative.