Nikola Jokic is known for many things on a basketball court, but defense has never been near the top of that list. In fact, early in his career, his defense was considered a liability and detractors wondered if the Nuggets could ever truly compete for a title with a defender like Jokic guarding the rim.
But those concerns have obviously been put to bed over the years; partly because of Jokic’s generational brilliance on the offensive end, but also because he has made great strides defensively.
He will never be an elite athlete, or someone who is meeting players above the rim to contest shots. He’s not a conventional rim-protecting center, nor is he a switchable big man. He’s a bit of an outlier in that he has essentially found a way to be a passable defensive center just based on his basketball IQ, his incredible hands, and his court vision.
Jokic is such a cerebral player that he has figured out how to get the most out of his skill set. He’s never out of position or over-committing, he knows when to drop back into coverage or step up and meet a ballhandler at the level, and he is always well-positioned for the defensive rebound.
But perhaps his most underrated skill is his ability to use his hands to get critical steals, deflections, and blocks. Despite his frame, Jokic ranks in the top 10 among all NBA players in both steals and deflections; among the ranks of the league’s best on-ball perimeter defenders.
It is clear that Jokic has made defense a point of emphasis, and has focused on bringing his elite court vision to that end of the floor. His hands are also elite and he is reading what the other team is doing and getting in the passing lanes as often as almost any player in the league. It’s a pretty amazing progression for a player who was recently considered a liability on that end of the floor.
Jokic likens himself to cookie monster on defense
But Jokic has a much simpler and more mundane explanation for his prowess on the defensive end. He was asked about his steals and replied, “I have the whole team working for me” and added that he just gets to “be a cookie monster”.
It’s an amazing, hilarious, and enlightening quote from the giant Serbian cookie monster. He is being humble to an extent, but there is certainly some truth to what he is saying. With a bunch of rangy, athletic perimeter players running around and creating havoc, like Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, Russell Westbrook, and others, chaos is being created and teams are forced into poor decisions.
That allows Jokic to sit back, watch everything unfold, and wait for the errant passes to come in his direction. A lot of it has to do with his instincts and intuition as well; he is clearly understating his own abilities.
Either way, it’s awesome to see Jokic thriving on both ends of the floor and to see him getting the attention and credit he deserves for his defense. With all that he does on the offensive end, it would be easy for him to rest on the other side of the court and leave that tough work to his teammates. Instead, he has devoted himself and progressed to the point where he is one of the NBA’s best in multiple key defensive categories.