Watching Nikola Jokic is always special. He has complete command of the basketball floor almost every night he plays, making the Denver Nuggets a dangerous opponent for any team. A reason behind it, apparently, is that he knows the other squads' playbooks.
Well, half of them, which is still impressive nonetheless.
Jokic admitted as much while talking about why he can read plays before they happen. Asked whether he has memorized the rest of the league's plays, he offered a rather modest response, saying, "I don't know. Do I know the playbook? But I'm confident I know half of it."
Joker can read minds?
Even non-Nuggets fans will agree that Jokic is one of the smartest hoopsters — not just of his generation but all time. We've all seen his highlight reels on offense, taking our breath away with the proverbial eyes at the back of his head, passes that thread the needle, an otherworldly anticipation of opposing defenses, and the ability to find ways to get buckets over tight defensive coverages.
What has flown under the radar is Jokic's knack for deducing what plays opponents are running and telling his teammates exactly what's going to happen and how to counter it.
He even had Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert in awe for sniffing out one of the Minnesota Timberwolves' plays during an early-season bout with Denver in the 2024-25 campaign. The Wolves stars were left jokingly wondering if there was a "spy on the bench" and suggesting that they had to "launch an investigation."
Such a skill could prove useful for the Nuggets, especially if they find themselves in need of a defensive stop at a critical juncture in the playoffs.
Joker's IQ is simply on another level
Of course, knowing the foes' next moves is just a manifestation of what makes the three-time MVP a scary matchup for any team.
It's tough to name a handful of guys with a better basketball IQ at the moment, and that is a key reason the Nuggets have a chance to beat any squad in a seven-game series. It doesn't matter if they have homecourt advantage or not, as Jokic is a formidable equalizer whenever they have to deal not just with their postseason rivals but also with an antagonistic crowd.
Right now, there is still an intense battle for the third and fourth place in the Western Conference, featuring the Los Angeles Lakers, Nuggets, Timberwolves, and Houston Rockets. While Jokic and company would like to land any of those seeds at the end of the regular season to start the playoffs at Ball Arena, it might not matter that much because they already have an edge as long as the Serbian superstar is playing.