There shouldn’t be much debate around Nikola Jokic anymore. The Nuggets center has long been acknowledged as the greatest passing big man of all-time. After leading Denver to its first NBA championship in franchise history last season, Jokic is now the consensus pick for the best player in the league. Still only 28 years old, Jokic is fully at the peak of his powers, and he’s doing amazing things every single time he takes the floor.
The Nuggets beat the Grizzlies, 108-104, on Friday night to move to 2-0 on the season. Jokic was a powerhouse once again, finishing with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists on 8-of-14 shooting. The numbers capture Jokic’s all-around brilliance, but they don’t signal how thrilling his play can be. You need to actually watch the games for that.
Jokic produced another ridiculous highlight against Memphis when he threw a three-quarters court inbounds pass for an alley-oop. It was the type of pass that only Jokic could see and could throw — so much so that the camera man couldn’t even keep up. Watch the pass here:
From the opposite free throw line! How is that possible?
This is witchcraft from Jokic. I can’t remember seeing an inbounds pass go for an alley-oop dunk from that far away before. The play speaks to the incredible chemistry the Nuggets have going right now: Aaron Gordon knew Jokic could make that pass, and timed his jump perfectly to flush home the dunk.
An NBA court is 94-feet long baseline to baseline. That means this is about a 79-foot alley-oop pass. Holy cow.
It’s such a treat to watch Jokic rewrite the rules of the game in his image. On a night when Luka Doncic hit four straight dagger threes to save the Mavs, Jokic’s pass may have been the best play of the night. The NBA is in a great place right now when it comes to young talent.
