I'm Coming Around on Nikola Jokic
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I'm here to eat crow today. I am not a Nikola Jokic fan. I find his brand of basketball slow, plodding and boring. He pokes and prods and moves like he is a lumberjack. I fully believe he only deserved one of his MVP awards. I still fully believe Joel Embiid should be a two time MVP. I like a bunch of other players much more than Nikola Jokic. I find the love from the media, mainly ESPN, to be very racially biased towards Jokic. But dammit, that dude has been an absolute killer during this Nuggets playoff run. Let’s discuss.
I am a Lakers hater. I have never, ever liked them. I do not root for any big market team. But, I found it hard to root for the Nuggets going into this series due to my distaste for Jokic. That feeling went away quickly. Watching Jokic and Jamal Murray and Kentavious Caldwell Pope rip the heart out of the Lakers, it was soon very easy for me to root for Denver in the West Finals. I also found it quite easy to root for Jokic. In fact, when the Suns owner decided to do that unnecessary flop was when I kind of started to flip to Jokic's side.
This dude should not be as good as he is at basketball. He is big, but that is about it. He looks out of shape when you compare him to other guys who play his same position. His jumper is wonky. He is a solid passer, but not at Draymond Green's level for a front court guy. He doesn't look the part, but he has found a way to make it work. He makes the right passes. He shoots when he needs to. He doesn't give up stupid fouls anymore. He doesn't gripe as much as other guys, Luka Doncic I'm talking about you here. He just plays the game and everyone around him seems to love playing basketball with him. Jamal Murray is as good a shooter as there is in the league, and he is usually pretty wide open due to defenses sucking in on Jokic. He is also the perfect pick and roll guy with Jokic. Aaron Gordon fits like a glove with this squad and he brings that defensive intensity they were missing. KCP is a proven vet and winner. He is a knock down shooter and he plays very good defense. Bruce Brown has proven to be an exceptional low salary signing. Michael Porter Jr is actually playing defense and hustling even with his shot not falling. But all of this doesn't work if these guys do not like playing with the face of the team, Nikola Jokic. They all want to win, they have all bought in, Michael Malone has done a phenomenal job getting everyone, including his star player. to totally buy into their respective roles.
I am endlessly fascinated at how quickly I have turned out to not hate this team, and Jokic, as much as I did only one short year ago. He made some amazing shots last night to close out that series. He was the best player on the floor for all four games. This is a floor that included guys like Anthony Davis, Jamal Murray and LeBron James. James had an incredible game last night, but Jokic was better overall. Murray had a great game two, but Jokic did it all series and all playoffs for that matter. AD had 40 in game one, Jokic nearly matched him, and the Nuggets got the win. Aaron Gordon is allowed to rove on offense and throw down oops. Jokic threw a pass last night that looked like it was to no one, and here comes Gordon to throw it down. Even the Lakers looked shocked. But Jokic and Gordon knew what they were doing. It was pretty astounding.
I will most likely be rooting for the Heat in the Finals, if they eventually close out the Celtics. But if the Celtics make some wild comeback and win the East Finals, it won't be so hard for me to root for Jokic and the Nuggets yet again. It shouldn't work. Jokic should not be this dominant. But here we are. And the Nuggets are a fun team to watch. I will not wear their gear or even root for them next season. But I found it easy in the West Finals, and if the Celtics somehow do the impossible, it would be even easier for me to root for this Nuggets team. I'm sorry for bashing this team and this player so much. I was wrong.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.