In the summer, the Denver Nuggets locked down Nikola Jokic to a 5-year max deal to the tune of $148 million, effectively handing him the keys to the franchise. This has done absolute wonders for the 23-year-old, especially with regards to his confidence level.

In fact, Jokic now has so much self-assurance that he believes that legendary big man Shaquille O'Neal would have been no match to him had they played in the same era.

Endearingly nicknamed as the “Joker,” Jokic has his unique brand of comedy on full display here. He was obviously kidding about his assumption, as he even went as far as saying that in his mind, Shaq may be one of the most dominant players to have ever played the game.

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The question was a bit loaded though, as it was asked right after Jokic shared his thoughts on Hall of Famer Charles Barkley. O'Neal and Barkey are perpetually butting heads on their show Inside the NBA, and Jokic has made it abundantly clear that he is definitely on team Barkley.

Jokic has started the season strong for the Nuggets. Prior to Thursday night's 121-114 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, Jokic and co. notched up four consecutive wins to open the new campaign. In five games, the 6-foot-10 Serbian has averaged a very impressive 23.4 points on 59.1 percent shooting, 1.2 three-pointers, 10.6 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 0.8 blocks in 30.6 minutes of action.

This early in the season, Jokic is already showing why he deserves every penny of his max deal. This should be the theme throughout the rest of the year, and as a result, the Nuggets should be in the hunt for a Playoffs spot by the end of the regular season.