NBA fans have held nothing back on former basketball coach Stan Van Gundy. While everyone is aware of Nikola Jokic’s exceptional skills, giving him the GOAT status is pretty arguable. Gundy did exactly the same and fans were unhappy with his comment.
To make things worse, the former coach completely left out Michael Jordan and LeBron James from the conversations. That’s not something NBA fans want to hear, especially after what Jordan and James have achieved. Here’s what Stan Van Gundy said:
“Someone in a front office said this to me at summer league and I just hadn’t heard it verbalize like this. Nick Jokic might be the best offensive player in the history of NBA and I think that’s on the table now for me,” Gundy said.
NBA fans never hesitated to mock the coach for his words. Fans dropped wild reactions to his statement.
“The best player in the history of the NBA who can’t defend to save his life,” one NBA fan wrote.
the best player in the history of the NBA who can’t defend to save his life
— Sports&Banter (@Footballjogfv) November 26, 2025
“Are we really heading to that conversation with Jokic? I love Jokic; he is an amazing player, first or second best in the NBA. But for you accolades merchants, if Jokic wins another Championship/MVP and continues to play and put up these numbers for the next five years, are we really about to put Jokic in the NBA GOAT conversation?” one fan asked.
“You can say he passes and shoots better than MJ or Bron or Kobe. But his career doesn’t compare to either of them yet. If anything, jokic should be compared to Wilt. Can you say with a straight face that Jokic is better than Wilt was??” another fan replied.
Stan Van Gundy Continues To Get A Hard No From NBA Fans
Gundy’s statement went viral on social media, and NBA fans held nothing back. A majority of the fans criticized the former coach for his bold statement.
“He might be the best player in the history of the NBA.”
– Stan Van Gundy on Nikola Jokic
(h/t @DNVR_Nuggets )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) November 26, 2025
“We literally watched prime Steph, prime KD, prime bron for 25 years and all 3 are better,” one fan responded.
“Jordan would literally jump over Jokic and dunk all over on him for 60 points or would foul out Jokic in the second quarter. What are we even doing The Jokic glaze seems to break along racial lines and that’s a little telling if we’re being honest. MJ was universally deemed best,” another fan replied.
“Best offensive player imo is lebron, but you can’t be best oat without the defensive side of the ball IMO… jokic is NOT a bad defender ofc but i don’t think his elite offensive game just excuses him for being a mid-defender,” wrote one NBA fan.
NBA Fans always speak their mind when it comes to such debates. Calling Jokic the GOAT over LeBron and Jordan was certainly not a wise comment to make.
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Dan has been active in sports since 2016 and has worked behind the scenes as a scriptwriter for basketball, volleyball, and other sports. At a time, Dan has also been working as a sports commentator for CBA Pilipinas. During the pandemic, he has also been actively writing betting articles for CashBet and BetNow.
