{"id":645341,"date":"2026-03-07T13:24:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T13:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/645341\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T13:24:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T13:24:21","slug":"nba-needs-to-get-off-hands-and-get-defenders-off-nikola-jokics-knees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/645341\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA needs to get off hands, and get defenders off Nikola Jokic’s knees"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NBA needs to get off its hands and get defenders off Nikola Jokic\u2019s knees<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

Three decades ago, there were Jordan Rules implemented by the Detroit Pistons. Now, there are the Jokic Rules carried out by Lilliputians.\n<\/p>\n

It is not basketball.<\/p>\n

It is part strategy, part WWE<\/a>. It seems inspired by Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell, who famously said, \u201cwhen you knock us down we\u2019re going to get up, and on the way up we\u2019re going to bite a kneecap off.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

If the guards like Utah\u2019s Keyonte George<\/a> and the Lakers\u2019 Marcus Smart focused on fronting Jokic, it would be understandable. But they purposely box their butts into his legs, trying to get Jokic to tumble over or trip on his own feet. That is not defense. That is some Humpty Dumpty bull(bleep).<\/p>\n

The Jazz and Lakers followed the same blueprint that is almost guaranteed to reappear Monday night in Oklahoma City. Alex Caruso relishes making Jokic miserable. He is an elite defender. And should be above this gimmick. He likely won\u2019t be.<\/p>\n

Teams have no incentive to stop if the refs don\u2019t enforce the rules. Jokic doesn\u2019t help himself by complaining, a habit he has fallen back into over the last month. But, he has the right to defend himself with the way he is getting defended.<\/p>\n

One solution is for Jokic to fall forward when they back into his knees, squashing anyone and anything below. It would be worth it if not for the fact that Jokic is coming off a knee injury, and any slight twist or tweak could end the Nuggets\u2019 season.<\/p>\n

So what is the answer if the refs continue to let guards harass the big man?<\/p>\n

Screens and picks. And more screens. And more picks. It will look weird. But if Bruce Brown or Aaron Gordon sets a blind pick as Jokic goes to the corner that will ease the appetite of the defenders to latch onto the center\u2019s legs like yapping Chihuahuas. Running motion across the face of the defenders will also put them on notice for a screen or an \u201caccidental\u201d bump to the chest.<\/p>\n

Jokic will always inspire inventive ways to stop him. This, though, has to stop. The refs need a more active whistle, and the Nuggets players need to protect Jokic from defenders and himself.<\/p>\n

Russell vs. Sean, part 4 or 5?: Russell Wilson clapped back at Sean Payton. This passive-aggressive feud continues to feature smoldering embers. For those keeping score, Payton took a shot at Wilson after the Broncos beat the Giants<\/a>, saying, \u201cI was talking to (Giants owner) John Mara, and I said, \u2018We were hoping that that change would have happened long after our game.’\u201d It was meant as a compliment to Jaxson Dart.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Understandably, Wilson did not see it that way, tweeting, \u201cClassless \u2026 but not surprised. Didn\u2019t realize you\u2019re still bounty hunting 15+ years later through the media.\u201d OK, fair. So, why is Wilson still talking about it four months later? Wilson said recently on the Bussin\u2019 with the Boys podcast that, \u201cI know who I am as a competitor, as a warrior, as a champion, and you know, I\u2019ve beaten Sean, too. You know, like we\u2019ve been in the same place and the same thing. \u2026 Just don\u2019t disrespect me.\u201d<\/p>\n

This reminds me of when George Constanza was devouring food in \u201cSeinfeld,\u201d and co-worker Reilly quipped, \u201cYou know George, the ocean called, they are all out of shrimp.\u201d Constanza failed to volley, and planned a Firestone snow tire night weeks later to exact revenge. He repeated his eating habits, and the ocean line followed. Constanza countered with \u201cThe jerk store called and they are all out of you.\u201d The comeback fell flat. Wilson had a better retort, but it was too late. And frankly, where was this courage in 2023 when Payton unloaded on Wilson at Detroit? Payton makes enemies. No question. But if you are going to come at him again, there should be a statute of limitations.<\/p>\n

Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver\u2019s teams.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NBA needs to get off its hands and get defenders off Nikola Jokic\u2019s knees. Three decades ago,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":645342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[877,4089,7,6850,83761,437,2863,187,83762,165,4096,252,6,9,1106,253,302,179,5436,8131,66,198,3788,427],"class_list":{"0":"post-645341","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-aaron-gordon","9":"tag-avalanche","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-bruce-brown","12":"tag-casey-mittelstadt","13":"tag-colorado-avalanche","14":"tag-denver-broncos","15":"tag-denver-nuggets","16":"tag-j-t-compher","17":"tag-latest-headlines","18":"tag-more-avalanche-news","19":"tag-more-nuggets-news","20":"tag-nba","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-nhl","23":"tag-nikola-jokic","24":"tag-nuggets","25":"tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","26":"tag-russell-wilson","27":"tag-sean-payton","28":"tag-sports","29":"tag-sports-columnists","30":"tag-troy-renck","31":"tag-utah-jazz"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116188116734515018","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}