Just another small observation to add to this, and correct me if I'm wrong - Jokic never gets frustrated at his team mates (whoever they are) if they try and make a selfish or "suboptimal" play resulting in a loss. That's another rare trait in the NBA in my opinion.
@@alfasiger4178 boston is completely UNcohesive, they are just so loaded with talent that they overcome their terrible team structure and awful decision making... they have FOUR number 1s or 2s on their team... FOUR
Jokic understands that basketball is a team sport, and that you win by making your teammates better. Since he’s not an ego guy, he’s happy to let his teammates shine.
@@alfasiger4178 That is somewhat true but all-stars mean nothing. An example, LaVine 2x time all-star but I doubt anyone would prefer him over Jamal for the playoffs.
yes, jokic being called a stat padder is one of the most egregious sports media claims in the last decade... he is the LITERAL embodiment of unselfish... the one TRUE unselfish superstar in the entire league
@@notimportant3686 you are right about that, but imagine JJ Redick saying Embiid got MVP just because of his skin colour. How long would he have a job at ESPN after that statement? If he called Embiid a statpadder, no one would care. Cause he is a definition of one.
If he plays about 380-400 more games he will top 7,000 assists. It's not his fault that you see players standing around and not playing Defense. He can make the assist when opposing players are giving half effort. How many times have we seen him make a half court pass or a 3/4 court pass while the opposing team is standing around after a basket looking at their bench for approval? Or standing in place thumping their chests and slowly jogging down the court not guarding anyone?
Let's just say he looks like he'll end up as one of the greatest centers in NBA history. Putting him with Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain is praise enough in my opinion.
@@neko1533 I have to agree. He's looking right now to be one of the greatest centers of all time. It will be very interesting to see how long he can keep dominating the NBA like this.
Hes playing around ! He also loves to pass as always even when hes shooting with crazy efficiency and should take more shots to go for 40 or 50 pts . He said "Assists make two people happy, points just make one person happy "
Still the best player in the league. Been my favorite player since I became an NBA fan at the start of 2020 next to Steph, and have always said this, but he is still easily the best player in the world. Nobody comes close. He breaks the game. Nobody ever makes a bad team win the way Jokic does. Not Kobe. Not Jordan. LeBron took a bad 2018 Cavs team to the finals, but the east wasn't as strong in 2018 as the west is now. Jokic had a historic playoff run to destroy every team getting the Nuggets to win the championship, he has made his team a winning team while NEVER PLAYING WITH AN ALL STAR. To put into perspective how crazy that is, LeBron has never won without an all star teammate, Jordan has never made it out of the FIRST ROUND without an all star teammate, never even winning a playoff series. Kobe has never won without an all star teammate. Neither has Tim Duncan, Dirk hasn't but in all fairness they were all older so i'll give it to him (but Jokic hasn't even played with a former all star), KD hasn't, Curry hasn't, Giannis hasn't who won the right way, Dame hasn't... so many players haven't. Jokic has carried a team that without him would be ONE OF THE WORST IN THE LEAGUE, and even at THEIR BEST would probably still not be a playoff team without him, and he makes it a champions team, when there is a team with Luka and Kyrie, a team with Booker, KD, CP3, so many great teams in the West last year and nobody could stop him. It was a true robbery to give the MVP award to Embiid, whether it was out of pity or out of bias. Jokic plays the game the RIGHT WAY. He doesn't cry for calls, if you seen his arms - he gets fouled A LOT, and deserves the free-throws but doesn't get the 11 FTA a game like Giannis and Embiid, if he did he would easily be the top scorer even on his efficiency. Jokic just plays the game. He isn't selfish, he doesn't care if he scores 4 points or 40 points if he wins the game, he will score if he needs to, he will always find the right pass, he will get as many rebounds as he can, statistically he is a great defender even though he doesn't get any credit for it, and he has room to improve, but his team covers for him and he still gives effort defensively, he is also in great shape believe it or not, with some of the best stamina and a lot of strength which he knows how to use (listen to Draymond if you don't believe me on the strength, and above all that, to him a playoff game is just a game, he doesn't feel pressured, doesn't need to take the big shots, and instead just comes in, makes the WINNING plays, wins the game and nothing changes. Truly one of the best ever, one of the best players, teammates and professionals ever, and maybe the best offensive player the game has ever seen.
Yes, I agree with all... and, I love him becuse he don't give a shit about social web, he just wanna go to work and go home, he is not in illusion that he is better then anyone else, he is not like guys who film there perfict life so they could earn that way, selling soul for more money.
I agree with you 99,99999999999999% the only thing you are mistaken about is that Jokic had 3 former all-star teammates which are Paul Millsap, Demarcus Cousins and Isaiah Thomas :)
I think Lebron's 2007 finals run was much more impressive than his 2018 one. Still think Jokic can carry bad teammates a little better but not going to sleep on Lebron as a floor raiser. Prior to Joker I think he was best in NBA history at that
@@kugodx918 was much better and it’s not even close. Lebron had poor performances during the 07 run and his teammates bailed him out. He also did not perform in the finals. 18 Lebron is much more consistent
And people still want to call the conversation of who is best difficult. His only weakness is not looking fancy enough while dominating and not liking media attention
i dont agree... when opposing players or refs make some stupid shit he looks like `now im gonna kill you all`. You can see that change in attitude, moving on the flor, bulling opponent, his eyes and with reading lips sometimes, cursing and threatening words but in sport terms... we have that in our dna, not threatening in malicious ways just in sport way (im serbian so i can sometimes understand what he says...)
As a lover of old school B-ball especially the 80's and 90's I have to say that Jokic is Magic and Bird (my two favorite players) combined. When have you ever seen a center throw lobs. Yes, it does take a lot of things to go right to win a championship. The right superstars, the right teammates, the right coach. There are a lot of things going right in Denver lately.
He can throw these lobs because the players that have just made a 3...or a dunk, stand around and thump their chests and jog by their bench looking for approval. Hey guys see what I did? Let me yell and scream and not get back on Defense. In the meantime Jokic will immediately grab the ball and take advantage of their non effort.
Slowly but surely, 6Man, and other RU-vid channels are taking over mass media propaganda ESPN crap and that was inevitable. People can only take so much of fake media before they get sick of it. Keep up a good work men, if it wasn’t for Jokic, I wouldn’t know that NBA season is even on.
Jok is the reason I started watching NBA again. Plays the game the right way & is humble. Love basketball, but this rigging with the refs & pro sports in general (look at the nfl ) is no better than pro wrestling.
Nikola Jokic has missed just FIVE SHOTS over his last FOUR GAMES & is shooting a ridiculous 89 FG% in that span 😳 vs. Warriors - 34 PTS, 13/16 FGM vs. Hornets - 13 PTS, 6/7 FGM vs. Thunder - 19 PTS, 9/10 FGM vs. Grizzlies - 26 PTS, 11/11 FGM One of the greatest centers of all-time ‼️
For someone who is watching the Nuggets it is very clear what is Nikola doing this season, and you summed it up perfectly. People been yackin' Nikola should score more, but he's aware how important it is to give space to his teammates to have their big momentum during regular season, to develop self confidence so when the playoff starts not only Nikola, but his guys also perform consistently on a higher level. Great analysis mate! PS I have more respect for Nikola for not showing off against struggling teams.
Mikal Bridges said that teams were kinda managed to shut him down by closing passing lanes and making him score. Cause he is known for being uncomfortable getting all the buckets. Until one time he got out on the court and was like ok, you want me to score, I'll score this bitch every time. Went for 45 or something.
As a Lakers fan, I hate to admit that he's the guy, but he 100% is. He always finds the way to victory - no matter through Defense/Offense/Passing/Buzzer Beaters. Good players find a way to create their own luck. He does it all.
We have to remember that Chamberlin and Larry Bird also changed the game. It's refreshing to know that when Larry Bird came into the League that after 3 practices he was quoted as saying...."This entire league is average at best"
@@danielbrown3461 You got your facts wrong there. The guy who changed the game in 60's was Russell by proving a team centric approach wins. Chamberlain was famously a selfish player. He was the greatest athlete ever but Russell always beat him with his sheer will and competitiveness. Also, Bird changed the game with Magic not alone.
I learned to play in the '80s. I was raised and coached to play the team game - read the court, pass, move the ball, find position. Then Jordan entered the scene and everyone wanted to be a one-man show. Obviously, Jordan was awesome, but emerging players took the wrong cues from his style. No one passed anymore. The term "black hole" was coined to refer to that guy on everyone's team who never passed the ball, who'd go the hole against 2 or 3 opponents, get blocked most of the time and never think to kick it out to a high-percentage shooter like like, standing there wide open on the elbow where I could easily hit 50-60%. Anyway, when my playing days ended in the '90s, I basically walked away from the game. Stopped following it completely. It just wasn't fun anymore watching modern players. I'd see highlights on the news every now and then, I knew who all the superstars were. A few of them got my attention, and there is a lot of talent these days, but nothing to get me to the front of my seat. Then only recently a friend mentioned Nikola Jokić and I thought I'd take a look. And now I'm watching basketball again.
I always feel the Nuggest as a whole cut so much more than other teams just because Jokic is there and they know a pass will come no matter how if they got an advantage. If AG has a free lane towards the unprotected basket (because the 5 is usually on Jokic), you know 90% of the time it is a dunk
@@manuelcorvobelda1831 The interesting thing is the rest of the team likes to add to the dishing on cuts when he's on the floor. Clearly he's the best passer on the team but his play is so infectious other guys will do lesser versions of it.
This mf really doesn’t stat pad….. i have never seen an mvp caliber player shoot 3 shots, makes 2 of them, and is absolutely okay with not scoring more points, while having 7 rebounds 16 assist and 5 blocks in 24 minutes
been a giannis fan for a loooong time , but I have been saying it the last 5 years JOKIC IS THE ONLY ONE WHO DESERVES MVP over him EVERY SEASON :D but the best part is , Jokic really doesnt cares... he really plays for his team and his always calm , cool and collected
Awesome analysis. What an inspiring player, what a gracious player, to feed the team-mate that is struggling even more to help him gain confidence. Jokic is an atypical Balkan player because of his selfishness. He reminds me of Kung-Fu Panda - amazed with other players without realising that he is the goat.
What does MVP mean, it spells "Most VALUABLE Player". So i if the whole NBA was reset, i was a coach and you tell me i can choose one player, any player from history to build team but the rest of my roaster was assigned at random. Well I`d argue you would have to pick the Joker, because no matter whoelse you get, the Joker makes it the easiest to build a strong team while being a Top 15 all time player himself. By this reason the Joker is the all time MVP.
I really like your videos. Besides me being a fan of Jokic, you dig deeper into topic and find new angles and points of view, that are actually relevant. It takes smart guy to understand the "right" corelations and to present them in a understandable way.
theres actually a bunch of nba youtube channels which just take arguments i heard a day before on e.g. zach lowes podcast and cobble them up to a video or others who let ai read a script (and maybe let ai write that script). so its always appreciated if someone brings original content.
Jokic is so amazing. Remember a few years ago where he was an out of shape lump that you could literally see get tired and stop running the floor after the first quarter..I thought if he takes his fitness / diet seriously he'll be the best player in the NBA. Luka is another that makes you say the same thing.
Jokić to me is a perfect player unselfish team oriented prefers his whole team to shine rather then him. He doesn't care about MVP or finals MVP he cares that his teamates are champions and he was a big help for them
I got into the nuggets because it felt to me like they truly played like a full team, that means every single one of their players from first unit to fourth unit plays at their best with only the team in mind, at all times. But recently it’s been feeling like Jokic is the one elevating all of these players, if that’s even possible.
Many players say they don't care about stats/personal achievements and just want to 'win'. The difference is Jokic doesn't have to present that lip service and actually plays that way. I grew up watching 90s basketball and as such was a massive MJ fan, pretty hard not to be in that era. I did follow GSW just to be different as I liked run TMC and then was fortunate enough to witness Steph Curry play with a modicum of humility (Somewhat rare in today's NBA). Despite those great players Jokic is fastly becoming my favorite player. No nonsense, doesn't talk himself up, plays with actual humility, doesn't care about the stupid narratives of legacy and all of that stupidity. Just goes out and plays, works out what he needs to do to win and does it. So refreshing in such a self promotional, what about me kind of league.
You know what's crazy? \Wilt did that (effeciency), when he is playing with not too skilled players back then but Jokic did that when everybody is great (As in great) at basketball. Read that again!
I hope he sets the standard for an iconic mindset as an athlete, I always loved getting assists and involving my teammates and so on ... but jokic is on different level and especially when you are so talented and versatile almost everyone would focus on getting buckets
I remember being a kid and i never would have thought my city would have such a great team. I didn't even like Melo but when dude left i thought all chances of champs was gone
Jokic doesn't love the spotlight. He wants the ball because he loves to share it while others just wants to ISO to score. He's not your typical MVP who just scores at will to win. He's a basketball genius and that's the true meaning of MVP. Jokic is the true definition of MVP. He doesn't care about stats. He would not sit games against a top competition and worry about not logging good stats. He just wants to win.
His teammates are much better offensively because of him. His combination of playmaking and scoring gravity is possibly the best ever. Sometimes I wish he’d sit 20 games just so people could see what this team would look like without him
@@Va11idus I agree the superteam thing is crazy. Jamal is probably in the running for the worst 2nd option player in a finals run since the turn of the century and probably even further back depending on how you view it. Obviously he’s productive but it’s difficult to tell how much of that has to do with Jokic.
I’m sure almost all players would love to play with Jokic. He will put get your name out there and will do all he can to make you look good. Probably the best teammate in the league.
You have absolutely lost your mind. Todays nba is a joke . all the older players and coaches are telling yall but you just wont see it . its not the same game that's why players like jokic can thrive . he's no better that vlade divac
@@kingfree3396 on one hand I do want to give him his respect because he’s the only player doing what he’s doing. He’s more legit than the bunch of guys dropping 30 a game but I also understand that some of these numbers are inflated, not because of pace but because of how the game is called. But Divac wouldn’t be doing what Jokic is doing in today’s league.
@@joejett5084 im not saying he isn't good because he is he is a excellent rebounder but he sure ain't top ten or top 50 for that matter. The way the game is called changes a lot. If he is he ain't better than divac by much
Jokic ball is starting to influence basketball in general: I strongly believe his success has made bigs like Giannis and Embiid try to improve their assist numbers. He may improve the game on all levels. Much better than, say, some junior- high coach saying “Okay Johnny, here’s how you flop and foul hunt.”
Nikola jokic is an anomaly there will never be a player like him again. Everyone is always saying that players like wembanyama and chet are unicorns but jokic is the real unicorn
I respectfully disagree - he has no interest in popularity contests like the MVP award but I think he plays for greatness in team wins and to achieve his fullest potential (when it counts the most). You don’t share space with Wilt Chamberlain alone and not have a mindset and skill set for potentially being one of the GOATs. Joker gladly takes his foot off the gas during regular season and ignores building MVP consideration, but come the postseason, watch out!! He truly takes no prisoners and his post- vs reg season numbers elevate every time. If that’s not GOAT behavior, I don’t know what is lol 😊
Imaging being so good you just don’t care anymore. He didn’t want to score a single point against the pistons he would prefer his bench warmers to get points. Now that’s a team player. He’s already a millionaire , it’s truly amazing to see a player just come into work and think “I don’t even have to score if it’s not needed, I rather pass the ball to bench warmers”
The biggest difference in Embiid and Jokic is really how they play the game mentally. Embiid just wants to just dominate you into submission, but when he goes cold his entire team is out in the 2nd round. Jokic wants his team to dominate you, while he tries some new things, and that can mean 3 shots and a dozen assists in his night but they'll usually win if the ball is popping.
It’s really crazy how the best player in the world is also the most unselfish, and some people really still hate him and always try to discredit him. Cold world
I grew to hate the NBA due to the promoted thuggish/selfish culture of many star players, plus (LET’S BE HONEST) the growing lack of skill throughout the league. A lack of skill which results in a skilled player like Lebron James LOOKING LIKE A GOAT… when in reality… sure he is a PHENOMENAL PLAYER!!! But a GOAT??? NOT EVEN CLOSE!!! The Nuggets actually made me remember what made me fall in love with the NBA! Anyone can just rack up points…but A REAL GOAT HAS THE ABILITY TO BRING OUT THE SKILL IN HIS TEAMMATES!!! Jordan did it! Kobe did it! Kareem did it! Bill Russell did it! Not to mention SHAQ, WILT, BIRD, and MAGIC!! and NOW JOKIC IS DOING IT!!!🐐
He is a wonderful player, and he puts aside his ego to make room for his team. Saving the distance, in the way he plays and his position on the court, and Jokic is a monster, Manu Ginobili left his ego aside by agreeing to be the 6th man of the San Antonio Spurs. These attitudes speak of his greatness as a person and basketball player. Jokic the best of all!!!!
He is an all-time great. I cannot wait to see how many rings he ends up getting. With Tatum and ANT and so many other great young players the NBA is far from on lock.
And that is why there is no other team in the NBA that can win a 7 game series against the Nuggets. With Nikola on the floor, his court vision and IQ, any play-off 8/9 man rotation looks like 15 different players to face!
I’m glad you brought this up. This is something I have noticed when watching the Nuggets consistently the last years. Unfortunately, those who doesn’t watch their games often doesn’t know about this, and it’s really sad. Jokic simply does what he needs to win, but no more than that. Hence, he won’t put up big individual numbers just for the sake of it. The complete opposite of a stat-padder. He has almost 50 "Sombor-doubles" for example and I think he’s the leader of all time in that category.
Aaron Gordon has to love Nikola, bro perfectly understands his game and his ability with a connection they built together to just know when a pass is coming or when it might. The trust is crazy. Nikola, like Mike, understands and utilizes his teammates better than anyone in their time. Like on the mpj podcast where he says that winning is his attitude and losing just feels weird or wrong, then immediately mpj backs that up because he's used to winning now. Honestly might be even better than Mike when it comes to leadership but I'm not gonna start that argument
