Video Evidence Suggests Nikola Jokic Is Actually Just A Modern Day Version Of Magic Johnson
As a well known sucker for any time a current player makes some sort of NBA history, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Nikola Jokic doing just that on Thursday night.
I know there are some out there today who love to discredit the triple-double and say it's basically become meaningless and not a big deal. I, am not one of those people. Call me crazy, but I'm of the belief that making a big impact in scoring, rebounding, and passing is #actuallygood and to do those things 10+ times in a 48 minute game is pretty impressive! If it were easy, everyone would do it all the time which is clearly not the case by looking at the graphic above.
There are legends on that list that barely had 30 of them in their entire careers, so I'll never really understand thumbing your nose up on triple-doubles. Especially when someone like Jokic has that total as a center and is inching closer and closer to being 2x higher than the next center on the list (Wilt).
It's fitting that Jokic just passed Magic on this list because honestly, he might be the best passer the league has seen since Magic was carving up the league. To be the level of passer those guys are, that's something you're born with. You can learn to read defenses and be more comfortable dissecting different coverages, but that level of dominance comes from within. That's a feel for the game that you can't teach.
Where it gets spooky is these two shouldn't only be compared because of their passing totals or their triple double numbers. The NBA pulled the footage and as it turns out, Jokic really might just be the reincarnation of Magic. Remember, Magic did play center in the clinching game of the 1980 Finals (and finished with 42/15/7…sound familiar?), and frankly the footage speaks for itself
Shit like this always freaks me out a little bit. The same way you had all those clips of Ant looking like MJ, I mean, you watch that highlight video and Jokic is making all of the same exact plays as Magic. There's just something about seeing the clips side by side in that way that makes it spooky to me. You call it fancy editing work, I call it some sort of basketball voodoo at play and I'm not sure that's even debatable.
Now that I have you here, the real reason I wrote this blog is to talk about what the hell is going on with the 2024-25 Nuggets and how they are very clearly wasting the prime of Nikola Jokic. All this crying about how the Lakers are ruining LeBron's last few years, but who gives a shit about that? The bigger story is wasting the prime of Jokic, and after another historic night, none of it mattered against the Cavs with the Nuggets once again getting blown out. When you look at where DEN is currently compared to where they were during their title season, we may be looking at one of the biggest front office fumbles in recent NBA history.
Selling off key rotation pieces because things got too expensive and then never really replacing them. Missing on the draft or drafting projects that weren't ready during this window. Paying the Jamal Murray extension when he may in fact be cooked. Not building a roster that can survive non-Jokic minutes. Not adding legit shooting in an era where you absolutely cannot trade 2s for 3s. The list goes on and on.
The problem is that there's no real solution or quick fix. Nobody is going to want to touch that Murray contract, the only piece you could maybe try and flip might be MPJ, but what type of return is he bringing back that solves things? In a way, the Nuggets are sort of stuck and the result is fumbling the prime of one of the NBA's greatest players.
In a weird way, despite winning the title just 2 seasons ago, when you watch the Nuggets play compared to the rest of the league, it feels like they've already been passed over. From their roster construction to how they play, it just goes to show you how quickly things can change in the NBA if you fuck around. Just because you have Jokic doesn't mean you can regress everywhere else, if anything it means you should be doing everything in your power to maximize his talent. From who you put around him to how you play. It feels more like Calvin Booth decided to be stubborn than adapt, and now the Nuggets find themselves fighting for their lives in the Play In when not too long ago there was talk about how they were going to be the next NBA dynasty.
The spinzone for any concerned Nuggets fan is the fact that there is still 75% of the season to go and DEN does have the best player on the planet and CLEAR leader in the MVP race. The fact that Jokic exists will always mean you have a chance, but if the first quarter of their season has told us anything, it's that even having a literal basketball demigod at your disposal might not be enough if you fuck up everything else around him.