There’s at least one thing that Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Hall of Fame center Wilt Chamberlain have in common.
Remember when the league was tossing around the word “unicorn” as a descriptor for those unique players that you’d be hard-pressed to find again? Well, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is exactly that, even if he may have never been described that way.
So was Wilt Chamberlain, almost a mythic figure in NBA lore, for that matter.
You only have to watch Jokic play one game to see the evidence of that, as there aren’t that many pivots who are trusted to bring the ball up the court, be the fulcrum of the offense as a facilitator, have a seemingly endless bag of tricks as a scorer and are elite rebounders as well.
True, Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl Anthony-Towns is in the mold but he doesn’t play the game as guard-like as Jokic or show a complete mastery of the game as a facilitator as Jokic does. Then, when considering Jokic’s lack of top-end athleticism, it makes the way he plays the game all the more interesting.
In Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals, as the Nuggets rallied back against the Los Angeles Clippers to have one of the most stunning upsets in NBA history, Jokic’s play was wondrous.
He finished the game with 16 points, 22 rebounds and 13 assists, never looking as if he was forcing the issue nor as if he was having any difficulty getting what he wanted for himself or teammates. It was such a masterclass in how to dominate the game from the center position that the only person to exceed those counting stats in any playoff game was Wilt, universally regarded as one of the most dominant players to have ever stepped foot on the hardwood.
The @nuggets Nikola Jokic had 16 points, 22 rebounds, and 13 assists in tonight's win.
— Justin Kubatko (@jkubatko) September 16, 2020
The only other player in NBA history to record at least 16p/22r/13a in ANY postseason game (not just a Game 7) is Wilt Chamberlain, who did so three times.
Jokic will never have the athleticism of Chamberlain but he’s made it clear that he can be a future Hall of Famer with his transcendent play style and his on-court excellence.
Because of his lack of athleticism, Jokic will always have matchups where the other guy may be a bit more difficult to guard, like in the Nuggets’ first round matchup against Rudy Gobert and the Utah Jazz. However, it’s undeniable at this point that he’s as dominant a center as they come and is a true unicorn on the floor.
We might as well give him his roses while he’s still around because we might never see a player quite like him again.