Nikola Jokic is that dudeIt’s all well and good that we have some other things to entertain us, like Steph Curry doing Steph things with a real team around him in Golden State and the DeMar DeRozan-led Bulls trucking teams in the East.
Just don’t lose sight of the big picture, folks: Jokic is still the most effective regular-season player in basketball. Voters seemingly reluctantly gave him the MVP last year and again appear to be scanning the universe for alternatives, and it may be harder to convince them after seeing Curry go amazeballs on Tuesday in the league’s most prominent TV game of the season.
People: I get the Stephmania and all because the Warriors have been unbelievable (and we’ll get to that soon here), but for the love of all that is holy, would you please stop dismissing Jokic? He’s basically a 7-foot point guard at this point, dragging an injury-riddled Denver team to competence.
Yet we’ve heard comparatively little Jokic banter thus far, despite the fact that through 13 games, his PER of 35.4 ranks … (checks notes) … first all-time.
All. Time.
By a wide margin, actually — the all-time best heading into this year was 31.86 by Giannis Antetokounmpo in 2019-20. It’s only 13 games, and maybe Jokic’s numbers will dip as the year goes on, but nothing about his start has seemed particularly fluky or weird.
Even relative to the other four players who have been notably awesome in the early part of the season, Jokic has been on a completely different level (see chart).
Advanced stats: Jokic vs. errrrbody
PER BPM TS% ON-OFF DIFF.
Nikola Jokic
35.4
14.5
66.5
25.8
Kevin Durant
29.6
8.4
68.2
11.9
Giannis Antetokounmpo
29.1
8.9
56.7
23.7
Jimmy Butler
29.0
9.8
62.5
-1.6
Steph Curry
26.9
8.5
62.0
19.9
We’re blessed with some awesome players right now, but in terms of production, it’s The Joker’s world. Yet, reading the tea leaves, it already seems very possible Jokic won’t repeat as MVP due to some combination of voter boredom and embarrassing oversight.
(Also, while we’re here: It is an unconscionable, embarrassing mistake that Jokic was left off the league’s top 75 players of all-time list, just to leave room for misty-eyed wistfulness about the fourth-best players on Lakers, Celtics and Knicks teams of yore. “Sure, this Jokic fella is good, but he’s no Dave DeBusschere.”)
The breadth of what The Joker is doing is overwhelming. Skill-wise, he’s the best passer in the league, but he’s also second in rebounding; oh, and he’s shooting 38.3 percent on 3s. And — get this — he’s sixth in scoring, while very nearly leading the league in 2-point shooting percentage at 66.3 percent.
Defensively, he’s less off-the-charts awesome, but his IQ and giant mitts still make him effective. (Fun fact: Jokic has more steals than Giannis, Trae Young or Kevin Durant. He’s in the league’s top 50 in both steal and block rate.) The Nuggets, quietly, are third in the NBA in defensive efficiency despite missing multiple key players, which sort of neutralizes the “WuT AbOUt hIs D?” angle.
In addition to having the best individual stats in the league, Jokic’s impact stats are borderline hilarious. The Nuggets are plus-14.2 points per 100 possessions when he plays, minus-11.6 when he sits, nearly a 26-point swing depending on whether he’s in the game.
The eye test backs up the numbers. He’s steadily improved his doughy physique and now moves better than ever, gliding past opponents in transition and making guard-like moves closer to the rim. As a roller, it’s been interesting to see him use long strides and (gasp!) athleticism to get chances close to the rim rather than ambling into jump hooks like he used to.
And mixed in, of course, are assorted displays of a rare basketball genius. He’s reinventing the game on the fly, doing stuff no big man has ever done and adding to the repertoire as he goes. Oh, here, let me just whip this one-handed, no-look, pick-and-roll dish to a driving Aaron Gordon:
Here’s another clip from the weekend that I kept rewinding before I just threw up my hands and realized I was dealing with some completely different species of basketball player.
Jokic never looked to his left on this play. Not once. He also didn’t have the ball and, in fact, had his back facing Will Barton in the seconds leading up to this pass. Yet somehow he knew, before the ball ever arrived, that Barton was open in the left corner and immediately snapped the ball there.
How did he know this?
Even as the Nuggets scuffle along in fits and starts through early injuries and bad bench units, Jokic has been unbelievable. Night to night, he’s not just the most effective player in the league, but he also makes at least one mind-blowing play every single game … and everyone just kind of ignores it and goes about the day. Playing in the Rocky Horror Time Zone doesn’t help, but it’s still weird. It doesn’t help that the league still markets him like he’s Mason Plumlee.
Fans of good basketball: Appreciate this guy. He is an awesome, generational talent at the absolute peak of his powers.