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Howard: The battle with Jokic in the park in 2020 ignited the fire in his heart

3:28pm, 14 October 2025Basketball

October 14th Today, former NBA player Howard talked about his defense of Jokic in the 2020 Western Conference Finals on the podcast CuriousMike.

Howard said: "I think when we played them in the bubble, it ignited a fire in Jokic. He thought to himself, 'No, I have to win, I have to go back and get stronger.'"

"Then, I could see changes in his game. I Seeing him lose some weight, but more importantly, he's more explosive in the game. I watched him before some games, and he even started to do dunks and other actions... His game has reached a new level." Howard said.

The Lakers finally won the series 4-1.

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