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Nikola Jokic won a match at the Denver Nuggets last night, wiping out what should have been an iconic dunk and winner of Luka Dončić with an objectively ugly falling rider who came in somehow:
It's a bit like Jokic's thing. This shot was his fourth winning game of the season, and he looked a lot like those who preceded him. Some guys win games with daring and cinematic riders drawn from the back of the bow, or brave attacks at the defense teeth. Jokic wins them by moving with a kind of madness towards the basket, then touching his wrist so that the ball finds an unlikely but unstoppable path to the basket. He did it against the heat:
And the grizzlies:
And kings:
And now the non-conformists.
Athletes are impressive because they are able to control the physical world around them in a way that seems unfathomable to normal people. This control is most often demonstrated by a spectacular demonstration of power or speed, as was the case when Dončić spilled the life of the Nuggets or LeBron James pinned the player Andre Iguodala. But there are also players like Jokic who make things happen, not with their physical strength or dexterity, but with a seemingly innate sense of the game they play. He has what appears to be a cabled ability to get the ball where he wants it. You see this ability every time he passes a perfect thumb to a teammate who cuts through the lane, and you see him in each of those annoying but deadly winners. Look at enough parts of Nuggets and you will be convinced that Jokic could, if he really needed it, throw a quarter in a shot glass on the other side of the room.
It's a fun thing to watch happen if you're a fan of the Nuggets, or even a neutral observer. But I can imagine few things more maddening than being beaten to the buzzer by what looks more like a happy accident than a real basketball game. Just ask Dončić:
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