SPORTS MEMOIR
Nikola Jokić’s Game Feels Very Familiar to Me
I always tried to play basketball differently since I wasn’t as gifted athletically
What do you see when you see this six-foot-eleven, practically seven-foot, 285-pound Serbian big man from the Denver Nuggets? For me, I see a lot of what my game was based on many times growing up playing against smaller kids who were much more athletic than me.
To say that Nikola is unathletic would be an understatement.
He’s even said himself, “I don’t jump, I just play basketball.” I’m paraphrasing obviously but in that same quote, he says that it’s about the team and that he wants to make the players around him better. I’m not saying that the concept of team basketball and fundamentals are a foreign concept to the NBA.
In today’s game though, there aren’t very many like him anymore. When I was growing up playing basketball in the high school gyms and the concrete courts, I did exactly what he preached. It wasn’t about my own individual achievements. Sure, if I had a nice shooting night, I’d celebrate it. I just think that I learned humility, competition, and just playing the game of basketball and playing as a team from a very young age.
I wasn’t always one of the taller players on the court. When I was still in elementary and middle school, I was one of the shorter players on the court. I had to push myself and adapt. I had to figure out how to shoot and how to pass and play defense when I was young. Many times, I would be the primary ballhandler because I was the shortest kid on the court at that time.
I got my speed naturally but had to learn the fundamentals and team chemistry from playing pickup games against kids who were much larger than I was. When I started to grow and then went through a massive growth spurt, suddenly I was one of the taller players on the court. This helped me get to the point where I could defend and rebound much better than I could when I was a point guard and much shorter.
This led me to start playing under the basket more as a power forward or as a center, the same position that Nikola plays now. He has revolutionized the position to more of a point center. Even though my position changed in the game, I still played like a point guard much like he does. I would demand the ball and make plays for myself and my teammates.
Not many people, especially in my hometown at the time, had seen someone who was team-first and willing to pass when the situation was right. I would throw no-look passes, fancy bounce passes, or whatever it took to get the basketball to a wide-open teammate. I didn’t have the bounce or the athleticism of many of my teammates. I had to depend on my basketball IQ to know where to put the ball.
I wouldn’t want to be the primary scorer if it meant that it hurt my team’s chances of winning. This winning, team-first mentality made it to where many of my fellow basketball-playing friends would want me on their team first. It got to the point that even as I got older into adulthood, I was drafted to a team in a league because of my exciting and innovative style of play.
At six foot two inches, I was too tall for playing point guard when I started playing in the adult league. With a little bit of size on me at about 250–265 pounds at the time, I was the perfect player to put inside just like I had been after my growth spurt playing in my teenage years. This is a similar build to Nikola at six feet, 11 inches, and 285 pounds, but he’s obviously playing against much bigger players. Whenever I encountered bigger players in my rec league, I would just do what I did best and use my deceptively good passing and shooting to help my team win.
There are a lot of parallels between mine and Nikola’s game. I’m not saying that I’m even on the same level at all as him but his game is just a throwback to a time when I could actually play basketball. Watching him play takes me back to those days when I would weave my way through the court and make my teammates better all around me.
That’s a rare quality to have so I’m told. I guess that not everyone can motivate and make players around them better. I just had the natural knack. My game wasn’t flashy since I couldn’t dunk and was terribly unathletic despite being quick and fast — but I got the job done.
I was a competitor and I hated losing. I won in many different ways. I see a lot of myself in Jokić. I’m not a high-level NBA player or a two-time MVP but I wish to see more of what I did in the NBA and more of what he’s doing as well.
I feel like if the league shifts away from insane athleticism and more towards players who actually want to win and have the skills and IQ to make teams better, then they will have a more exciting product for fans. For now, the Denver Nuggets and Jokić winning a championship will definitely leave an indelible mark on the NBA but also personally makes me excited for the future of the league.
It’s great to be reminded of a game that I’ve long been out of and am no longer able to play. Nikola is a small reminder to me that there are still people out there who are looking to play this way. And hopefully one day, I can physically throw it back at least just one more time. For now, that’s just wishful thinking. I’ll just watch and marvel as I watch a legendary player just play basketball.
