With NC State’s surprising run to the men’s Final Four of March Madness, big man DJ Burns has quickly become the talk of the tournament.
After the forward dropped 29 points, four rebounds, and three assists in a dominating win over Duke in the Elite Eight on Sunday, hoops fans couldn’t get enough of his unique skill. Burns’ performance even created a buzz about his potentially playing in the NFL in the future.
However, amongst the entire Burns-loving crowd, one of the more noteworthy was Denver Nuggets reigning NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic. Fresh off a superb Easter Sunday performance of his own, the Denver center admitted he was late to his postgame press conference because he was watching Burns’ highlights.
And when asked about the young big man’s talents on the court, Jokic couldn’t stop gushing about him:
Nikola Jokic told us that the reason he was late to the podium today was that he was watching DJ Burns and NC State.
"He's amazing."
— Ryan Blackburn (@NBABlackburn) March 31, 2024
Nikola Jokic: CONFIRMED DJ Burns fan @beastboyburns
"I think he's so skilled, especially lefty…seems like teammates like. to play with him. That'd be a good guy."
Joker was watching NC State-Duke before his presser lol pic.twitter.com/XlhAOZQuhd
— RG 📷 (@RyanGreeneDNVR) March 31, 2024
Look at that smile on Jokic’s face! That’s a man who’s truly appreciating someone’s unique abilities.
Burns himself loved hearing that Jokic enjoyed watching him play, even saying he likes to emulate the Nuggets center’s impeccable post work:
DJ Burns reaction to hearing that Jokic was watching the NC State game and how Burns played today. Pretty cool pic.twitter.com/KKDVqH5GTt
— CT (@CTFazio24) April 1, 2024
There you have it, folks. It’s not every day you get a ringing endorsement from the NBA’s best player, but that’s what happens when you play with as much joy as Burns.
