Jokic, finally an all-star, is unafraid to be himself
CH A RLOTTE ,N. C . » When you’re the best-passing big man since Wilt Chamberlain, it’s not hard to keep your teammates happy.
Leak out on a fastbreak, Nuggets all-star Nikola Jokic will lob a fly route into your pocket. Cut hard along the weak side, Jokic will spot and feed you with one of his coveted assists. Create a mismatch in the post, Joker will keep the ball out of harm’s way and reward you with two easy points.
Sunday’s All-star Game will offer Jokic a national stage fitting for his talents, a jungle gym for all of his tricks.
Jokic’s passing makes him a unicorn among the NBA’S elite, but that’s not what has endeared him to his teammates and made him beloved within the franchise; it’s his boyish, goofy personality that, in the words of Nuggets coach Michael Malone, “turns the temperature down” in the locker room.
When the most important person in your franchise doesn’t take himself seriously, neither can anyone else.
Jokic logged the 28th triple-double of his career Wednesday, tying him with Michael Jordan and John Havlicek for 12th on the NBA’S alltime list. Although he probably doesn’t want to remember, Malone has a vivid recollection of Jokic’s first triple-double that came a little more than two years ago in a win over Milwaukee.
“We’re in the locker room after
the game, and I congratulated him and he’s sitting in his chair,” Malone recalled. “He took his jersey off and he came up basically naked and he gave me a big hug in front of the team. … I said ‘I hope you don’t get any more tripledoubles because I don’t want any more naked hugs.’”
Now in his fourth year, Jokic is still indifferent to acting a certain way or dressing in anything other than matching sweats. If anything, he takes himself even less seriously now that he’s more established in the league.
“He’s still a guy that’s going to be lighthearted and have fun,” Malone said. “He’s just a big, goofy kid.”
It’s evident in his postgame media sessions — an obligation he’d rather not do but a task he gets through with his typical wry humor. On the rare occasion Jokic dunks, he’ll often make a point of saying he jumps higher than alley-oop artist Mason Plumlee. Or if a question is posed about Malik Beasley’s transition speed, it usually turns into an answer about how Jokic is the faster of the two.
Monte Morris dunked for the first time in his NBA career Wednesday night, and Jokic couldn’t wait to cut him down.
“He didn’t dunk,” Jokic quipped. “That is not a dunk.”
Jokic’s demeanor helps keep the Nuggets grounded even as they charge toward their first playoff run since 2013.
“Chris Paul was low maintenance, Steph Curry, I’ve been around some guys, but Nikola is just one of the most low-maintenance, low-ego, silly, goofy kids that I’ve ever been around that’s making $25 million dollars a year,” Malone said.
In Toronto earlier this season, Jamal Murray couldn’t even get through his postgame interviews without busting up as Jokic danced by himself to his native Serbian rock music.
“It’s just every day,” Murray said. “He’s goofy all the time. On the court, shootaround, off the court, locker room, he’s always smiling. He’s always got a light approach to everything. He’s just a happy guy, that’s what makes him so good. He’s deceptive, the way he looks, the way he acts, the way he talks, the way he moves. … Dancing, oh my god, don’t even get me started.”
According to Morris, who rides with Jokic to the airport ahead of road trips, he’s more musically inclined than just dancing.
“When he tries to rap songs, he doesn’t know how to rap at all,” Morris said. “Lil Wayne. He knows 50 Cent. He loves 50 Cent.”
From Murray, the team’s budding star point guard, to Morris, the Nuggets’ security blanket, to Torrey Craig, their rugged defensive specialist, no one is safe from the Joker.
“When we go out or do something, he always takes my hat,” Craig said. “Put it backward, just act like he’s hip. But he can’t dance. He rocks it backward. Every time I take it from him and put it back on, he chases me around, wherever we’re at, just to get my hat. I remember New Year’s, I just let him keep it.”
There will be more All-star appearances in Jokic’s future and a brighter spotlight he’ll have to navigate. There will also be more scrutiny as his star grows and the Nuggets blossom into a contender. But it’s a safe bet he’ll deal with it like he does most other things: With a light attitude and a dry sense of humor.
The Joker. That’s who he is.