Nikola Jokic has cemented himself as one of the greatest centers to ever take the floor in the NBA. His combination of size and skill makes him a tough cover for anybody lined up, and has resulted in him either winning the MVP award or finishing second in the voting in each of the previous five seasons. For other NBA players, the things that the Serbian superstar does with the ball in his hands isn’t even fathomable at times.
“Podcast P” with Paul George is one of the most popular player-run podcasts in the NBA, as the former All-NBA forward has lots of high-profile guests make their way to the studio to talk about anything and everything. While George has caught some flak in recent years for keeping up the podcasting bit while not playing up to the standards of his $212 million contract, he and his guests have talked about some good things on the podcast, one of those being Jokic.
From opposing stars such as Karl-Anthony Towns to teammates in DeAndre Jordan, everyone on that pod has had great things to say about the Joker. First up was Grizzlies center Jaren Jackson Jr., who had played against Jokic 18 times in his career. He took the liberty of talking about how Jokic makes all his teammates better.
“He’s doing just about everything out there… It’s really about everybody else, like everybody knows they’re going to get the ball, so they cut harder and it messes you up,” he said.
Jokic’s high for assists in a game against Jackson is 13, and no, Jackson has never recorded more assists than the Joker in a single one of their 18 matchups.
Three of Jokic’s former teammates also made their way onto the pod to talk about his game.
“He’s one of the greatest teammates I’ve ever had and he’s a great guy, he’s super selfless and he’s obviously a monster [on the court],” DeAndre Jordan, who spent two years backing up Jokic, said.
Jordan talked more about Jokic’s humorous off-court personality, part of the reason why he’s been deemed as the Joker. From the Serbian cheek kissing ritual to saying he doesn’t speak English to get out of conversations, Jordan had plenty of funny stories.
Mike Miller, who only overlapped with Jokic for two seasons in Denver, is the one who coined the “Joker” nickname. He said that he instantly knew that Jokic was the best player in the gym from the second he stepped on the court for the first time.
“I gave him the nickname ‘the Joker’, one because I couldn’t say ‘Jokic pass the f****** ball,’ so I said ‘Joker pass the ball.’ And his personality man, his personality and the way he plays, it’s like a joker… Joker was it,” Miller said.
Next up was Isaiah Hartenstein, who was one of the backup centers that many Nuggets fans felt like the team made a mistake in letting him get away. However, he explained the difficulties of why being the backup to the best center in the league is more challenging than more think.
“For most of the guys that were backups to Jokic, that might be one of the hardest jobs to do. You’re playing 10 minutes, it don’t matter what you do in your minutes, you’re not doing what Jokic is doing. That was the hardest time for me,” Hartenstein.
While it’s easier to win with Jokic on the same side, some players don’t want to play a limited amount of minutes. It’s a hard sell to get someone to play only 10 minutes instead of 20-25 like a traditional backup, which is why Jordan has been the only guy they could get in the building until this offseason.
The final player to speak on Jokic’s greatness was Towns, who has played against Jokic since the 2014 Nike Hoops Summit and has shared multiple storied playoff battles with him.
“Jokic obviously is a very talented player… I got a lot of respect for him, we both have a lot of respect for each other, a lot of mutual respect. He’s doing his thing in Denver, they made that team for him and they all rally around him. He’s definitely a tough guard… I didn’t realize until we played in a series that he’s 290 [pounds]… I ain’t realize he was that big. He’s got that Serbian strength,” Towns said.
It’s clear, the Joker has the respect of everyone else in the league. While some fans will still argue that Joel Embiid and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are better than he is, it’s clear that the guys who actually share the court with him are aware of what he brings to the table. He’s been putting on a show for Serbia in the EuroBasket tournament over the past few days, and he looks like he’s in form to compete for yet another MVP and a championship when the NBA season kicks off in October.
