Lakers Highlights: Ivica Zubac blocks Nikola Jokic to make his case for Rookie of the Year

Ivica Zubac was a fan favorite before he ever played a game fro the Los Angeles Lakers, and his play on the court has pretty much justified the early hype. The Lakers needed defense, and head coach Luke Walton seems to have replaced Thomas Robinson’s minutes with a heavy dose of Zubac.

His young center rewarded him by blocking one of the best young big men in the league (Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets) straight-up off the dribble:

Holy moly.

Joel Embiid probably has the Rookie of the Year award I facetiously awarded Zubac in the title locked up, but the 19-year old center is certainly continuing to impress every time he gets minutes during his review campaign. He has his faults and likely won’t come close to the award, however, the Lakers should be really pleased with the progress of their second-round pick so far.

Harrison Faigen is co-host of the Locked on Lakers podcast (subscribe here), and you can follow him on Twitter at @hmfaigen.