At 21, Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic has faced some of the best players in NBA history.

For Jovic, one of them is separated from the rest.

Jovic recently spoke about his toughest matchup during an interview with BackDoor Podcast. He said it was Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant.

“Between power forward and the rest, it has to be Kevin Durant,” Jovic said. “KD is one of the best of all time. The way he plays, his ability to shoot the ball, the height from which he releases the ball… The NBA is full of talent at those positions, but he is different from everyone else.”

Durant just completed the summer by winning his fourth gold medal. He is also the leading scorer in Olympics history with 518 points in 28 games. He is regarded as the best natural scorer the league has ever witnessed.

A first-ballot Hall of Famer, Durant will retire as one of the NBA greats. Jovic, meanwhile, is still rising in the league. He made strides in his second season, averaging 7.7 points and 4.2 rebounds. They were both improvements from his first year.

This season, Jovic is expected to make an even bigger leap. He and second-year forward Jaime Jaquez give the Heat a solid young foundation to offer support for All-Stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro.

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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