Nikola Jokic's incredible postseason performance, which led the Denver Nuggets to their first ever championship, has deservedly drawn some major plaudits from the NBA world. But there's always somebody who has to zig when others zag, and Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix appears eager to fill that role.

Speaking after the conclusion of the NBA Finals, Mannix had some thoughts about the teams that the Nuggets and Jokic had to beat to get to that championship.

“I don't look at it as an all-time great playoff run because they didn't have a peer, really, that they went up against,” Mannix said. “It's a playoff run that elevates him…I don't know if it elevates him to that top tier. To get to that next level of superstar, that all-time great level of superstar, I want to see him go up against a team that you consider their equal, or even consider their better. That you're staring down and you're the underdog in that particular series by a sizeable amount.”

In fairness to Jokic, of course, the specific players he came up against throughout the playoffs included Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, Rudy Gobert and Deandre Ayton – not a bad list of names. What's more, a large part of the reason he didn't come up against a team in which the Nuggets were the underdogs is because, well, they're the best team in the league, and he's the best player.

Who knows how he would have performed up against the likes of the Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks, or Philadelphia 76ers and Joel Embiid. But of the tests he actually did face, Nikola Jokic passed each with flying colors.