After their hard-fought 94–89 win in Game 5 against the Miami Heat, the legacy questions, hot takes, and jabs that had been coming at him for most of the last three years have stopped.
Jokić won an NBA title and was named tournament MVP.
He is now one of only a few players to win two regular-season MVPs and at least one in the Finals:
Tim Duncan, Moses Malone, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, LeBron James, Wilt Chamberlain, Michael Jordan, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are some of the best players in NBA history.
The Nuggets beat the Clippers thanks to Nikola Jokic and their defense.
In case you forgot, that’s eleven names. There are eleven of the best basketball players ever. And yes, it’s time to add Jokić to that list of great people.
Without a doubt, Jokić just finished one of the best playoff runs by a single player in league history.
Denver went 16-4 in 20 games, and Jokić scored 600 points, grabbed 269 boards, and gave out 190 assists. In the playoffs, Jokić was the best in all three of these areas. That has never been done before. This league has been around since 1946 if you include the years it was part of the BAA. Wilt had 13 runs in the playoffs. In that order, MJ had 13 and LeBron had 16.
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It’s something they’ve never done before. Not a single person.
When Jokić recorded a ridiculous stat line (or set of lines) around Denver for a couple of years, people would say “Not Since Wilt.”
That has recently changed into “Not Even Wilt.”
In this way, the playoffs (and really this whole three-year stretch) are more about leaving a mark than saving one.
Michael Porter Jr. said, “I don’t think you can put it into context,” when Jokić asked him about the playoffs. “He helps our team in a lot of ways.” “I think most people don’t know what a great basketball player he is.”
Now they do. They should, anyway.
Most of the two seasons that Jokić won regular season MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo was the likely answer when asked who the “best player in the world” was. Some people, like Kevin Durant and LeBron James, didn’t show up. Fans and experts who spoke out even put 2022–23 MVP Joel Embiid there. The group of JokiÇ was small.
You could kind of feel that tide turning during the playoffs.
It’s almost certain that Jokić is at the top of the mountain now.
He was the most valuable player in the playoffs and has been the leader in box plus/minus since the beginning of the 2020–21 season.
(BPM “is a basketball box score-based metric that estimates how much a basketball player helps the team while that player is on the court.”)
While that is going on, he’s third in the team in points scored, first in rebounds, third in assists, and first in raw plus-minus.
He’s made 83.0% of his free throws, 63.0% of his two-pointers, and 37.3% of his three-pointers.
In terms of numbers, no one comes close. Now the fight is about a lot more than just numbers.
After Game 5, MPJ said, “This was a historic run.” “How can you say he’s not the best big man ever?”
“We’ve seen a point power forward,” Aaron Gordon said. “A point center? We’ve never seen one before.” “That makes him the first.”
James Murray said, “He deserves to be the Finals MVP.” “He brings people together.”
Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray
We’re seeing a truly unique player who has made it clear that he puts team goals ahead of his own career goals. His team has won a title with him because of how he plays and how energetic he is.
He named almost every player on the team when asked which friends he would like to see win it all.
“All of them,” replied Jokić. “pretty much every player.”
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Because Jokić will be on the Nuggets next season, you can be sure that they will have the same attitude. There’s no sign from him that he wants to or will play any other way.
Because of this, Denver should be one of the title favorites for a while to come. Michael Malone said on stage that they weren’t happy with just one prize. He wants more.
Jokić did something on Monday that will make his reputation stronger, even if he doesn’t win any more titles. In Game 5, Jokić made 12 of 16 shots and scored 28 points. He also grabbed 16 rebounds and gave out 4 assists. His teammates only made 26 of 68 shots from the floor, which is 38.2 percent. He had the best plus-12 score on the team.
And in his own selfless way, he proved that anyone can win on the biggest stage in basketball, which made three years of NBA dominance possible.