Ben Taylor from Thinking Basketball analyzes the brilliant passing of Nikola Jokic and puts his skills in context among some of the game’s all-time best.
Nikola Jokic, the two-time Kia MVP and most dominant player of the 2023 playoffs, has the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. His ascent from little-known Draft prospect to this point is nothing short of extraordinary. We try to put it in context with 15 interesting facts about the most notable No. 15 in the league.
1. Humble athletic beginnings
Many professional athletes show an early proclivity for sports. Not Jokic. “I was taller than most of the guys and girls, and fattest, too. I loved some classes — math, history, that’s pretty much it. I didn’t love physical activities. In high school, I couldn’t do one pushup.”
2. Hoops and horses
There’s an alternate universe where, instead of directing the most devastating offense in the NBA, Nikola Jokic is content riding or at least caring for racing horses. The small-town Serbian developed a deep appreciation for the animals, telling SLAM, “I just fell in love with horses and their beauty and elegance. It was like a hobby for me. I didn’t get serious with it. And I wasn’t taking basketball serious either. I was in between both.” In fact, as a pre-teen, he once quit basketball and left a game at halftime for a chariot horse race.
3. Internet influence
A young Jokic’s only window into the NBA was YouTube, and he didn’t even look through it until he was roughly 14 years old. Highlights of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant initially caught his attention, then clips of great passers and big men. At the time, full games were not broadcast in Serbia.
4. Don’t blink
Nikola Jokic of the World Team boxes out against the USA Team on April 12, 2014 at the Moda Center Arena in Portland, Oregon.
Jokic’s basketball path to the NBA was short and steep; that’s a credit to how quickly he became a pro prospect. After tiptoeing into the professional ranks for all of six months, a 17-year-old Jokic joined Mega Leks (Serbia) in 2012. He averaged a whopping 1.8 points and 2 rebounds in 10.2 minutes per game in the 2012-13 season. One year of seasoning and improvement later, Denver drafted him 41st overall.
5. NBA career almost didn’t happen
Roughly two weeks before the 2014 NBA Draft, Jokic’s name was temporarily removed from the pool of candidates, a decision his agent tweeted about at the time.
Nikola Jokic, 95, withdraw his name from the draft. He will play next year for Mega Vizura!
— Misko4Raznatovic (@MiskoRaznatovic) June 16, 2014
The Nuggets would subsequently promise to select the Serbian prospect at No. 41 if he reentered the Draft pool.
6. Worth the wait
Though they drafted Jokic in 2014, the Nuggets had to wait an extra year to bring their future franchise big man into the fold. Jokic played one more year overseas, and the extra seasoning only solidified the hints of potential. Jokic won the Adriatic League MVP and Top Prospect awards in 2015, honors that immediately preceded Denver signing him to a rookie contract that summer.
7. Diamond in the rough
Of all players drafted 31st or later, Jokic’s career averages rank second in points, third in rebounds, fourth in assists and first in win shares per 48 minutes. Those rankings do not including NBA draftees who played elsewhere and then were re-drafted into the NBA (Elgin Baylor) or joined in the 1976 NBA-ABA merger (George Gervin and Dan Issel).
8. Origins of the ‘Sombor shuffle’
How many MVPs created their signature move because of an injury? While rehabbing his left ankle, Jokic tried not to put weight on his compromised foot as he got shot ups in practice. He ultimately developed a new unorthodox move called the “Sombor Shuffle” — named for his hometown of Sombor — that would later torment defenses.
Take a look the Joker’s “Sombor Shuffle” move!
9. From horse … to hardware
Imagine being a 7-footer returning from a horse-and-chariot ride in your European home country and being greeted by your NBA co-workers with the league Kia MVP trophy. Just another day in the life of Nikola Jokic.
Nuggets travel 5,600 miles to Sombor, Serbia to present Nikola Jokic with his 2021-22 Kia MVP award.
10. For the team
How many MVPs have ever volunteered to be a reserve? When then-Nuggets starting center Jusuf Nurkic became healthy and coach Mike Malone wanted to experiment having him and Jokic in the same lineup, Jokic thought the pairing wasn’t effective and asked Malone to let him come off the bench. Eventually, Denver traded Nurkic to Portland in 2017, who the team had selected 25 spots ahead of “The Jokier” in the same 2014 Draft.
11. The Jokic-Murray connection
One of the best two-man links in the NBA, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray have an unteachable bond on the court. Repetitions help, of course. Jokic passed to Murray 1,549 times in the regular season, nearly double those of the next most-frequent recipient (Bruce Brown at 808). In turn, Jokic received 1,273 passes from Murray, with Brown coming in second at 820.
From full-court dimes to filthy give-and-go plays, relive the best of Nikola Jokic-Jamal Murray 2-man game this postseason.
12. Joining the greats
The numbers representing Jokic’s sheer dominance share less company these days. This season, he joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players to average a triple-double in multiple playoff series in a single postseason. He also surpassed Chamberlain for the most triple-doubles (eight) in one playoff run. In the regular season, Jokic stamped his name next to Oscar Robertson on the two-person list of players with at least 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 800 assists in a season.
13. Taking the Mile High higher
The Nuggets joined the NBA via the ABA-NBA merger in 1976. Since that time, Denver had never reached the NBA Finals. They fell in the conference finals on four occasions (1978, ’85, 2009, ’20), each time coming up short by at least two wins. Jokic led the Nuggets in its 4-0 breakthrough against the Lakers, averaging an eye-popping 27.8 ppg, 14.5 rpg and 11.8 apg while shooting 50.6% overall and 47.1% from 3-point range.
14. Putting a ring on it
Jokic has been open about his life being full thanks to more than just basketball. Ironically, his games are proof of that. The Serbian big man wears his wedding band tied securely on one of his shoes every game.
15. Greatest Nugget ever?
It’s feeling less and less like a debate. Jokic’s name is already a repetitive sight in the Nuggets’ regular-season record book, leading in all-time assists and rebounds while ranking fourth in points, field goal percentage, steals, games played and 3-pointers made and fifth in free throws made. He’s also the only Denver player to be named MVP and leads the franchise in All-NBA First Team appearances (three).
