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Journalism of Courage
At the precise moment Nikola Jokic’s destiny was sealed in the 2014 NBA Draft, viewers in the US who had tuned in to watch the televised event were instead being shown a Taco Bell ad, with ESPN deciding to cut to a commercial. The Denver Nuggets’ decision to draft the unheralded Serbian as the 41st overall pick was made public via the ticker text at the bottom of the screen while the commercial played out — him being picked was a literal footnote.
At that moment, there was no buzz about Jokic. And for good reason. One of the scouts for the draft had assessed Jokic thus: “An average athlete lacking great speed and leaping ability… Foot speed is a big liability. He may struggle to stay in front of NBA athletes at the center position… Despite being a younger guy, his upside appears limited by his lack of explosiveness and foot speed.”
Before the Nuggets picked him in the second round of the draft, 23 teams — including the Nuggets themselves — had passed on him, with Philadelphia 76ers picking four players by the time the Denver-based franchise made the decision that would transform them.
On Friday, that once-widely-overlooked Serbian led the Nuggets to a Game 1 win in the 2023 NBA Finals over the Miami Heat, with a triple double — 27 points, 10 rebounds, 14 assists, one block and one steal — in 40 minutes.
A maestro with the ball
Jokic’s effort on home court against a hard-grinding Miami side was initially a masterclass in controlling the game without scoring too heavily.
The Nuggets led by 17 points at half-time. Jokic had attempted just three field goals (NBA nomenclature for shots) in the first two quarters. While teammates like Jamal Murray (18 points in the first half) and Aaron Gordon (14 points in first half) took over the scoring, Jokic quarter-backed passes to anyone who was free.
“That’s the beauty of Nikola. I learnt long time ago, that the (opposition) defence tells him what to do. He never forces it or imposes his will. He’s going to read the game and make the right play. He makes his teammates better. He takes great satisfaction in making plays for others. If teams are going to give him too much attention, he’s just going to pick you apart. I don’t think he cares if he scores 27 points in a game or not,” said Nuggets coach Michael Malone.
One more quarter later, he had attempted two more shots, preferring to exploit Miami’s tactics of trying to pressure him with two defenders to pass the ball to wide open teammates.
“I don’t need to shoot, I don’t need to score. The most important thing is to win a game… I’m trying to win a game in any possible way,” he told the NBA’s court reporter immediately after the game after racking up points in the final quarter.
In the ripped-muscley-sinewy modern-era of the NBA, Jokic is an outlier. Despite nine years having gone by after the initial assessment of him as someone who lacked foot speed, leaping ability and explosiveness, Jokic is one of the rare players with an unhurried ease on the court. His arms hang about limply on the sides as he runs with his team on the offence. He typically finds himself in space on the floor, gets the ball from a teammate, holds it with both hands like a water polo player as his mouth hangs open taking in extra oxygen while his eyes run a scan of the court for a teammate shrugging off his marker. If two players try to crowd him off the ball, he turns his back on them, and backs into them gaining ground. Then, in the blink of an eye, while defences think he’s just catching his breath, he throws a pass through a crowded tangle of players in the paint that would make Andrea Pirlo grin in admiration.
“He sees everybody. He’s like a maestro. Our floor general. You just got to be open,” Gordon told the NBA court-reporter at half-time.
When Jokic finds space himself to shoot a jumper, his 284-pound, seven-foot frame barely elevates a foot off the ground, but the end product is oftentimes a smooth swish of the net!
In short, he may not have bothered too much about the lack of foot speed, leaping ability or explosiveness. He just made his languid pace on the floor work in his favour.
And as far as the assessment about his “upside appearing limited” is concerned, Jokic has two regular season MVP titles for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, which was record breaking since before that Giannis Antetokounmpo and Steve Nash, who were both selected as the 15th overall picks, were the lowest-drafted players who went on to become MVPs.
Leading by action
In his post-match press conference after Game 1 on Friday, Jokic was asked if he had ever tried inspiring his team with words. Like a locker room speech.
His immediate reaction was a frown and a shake of the head. As silence prevailed in the room, he realised journalists expected slightly more than that.
“I mean, no!” he blurted out, almost as if taking offence. “We have others who do a really good job (at this). We listen to them because it’s really smart what they’re saying.”
