Nikola Jokic has turned the 2023 NBA Finals into his own personal playground, as he’s averaged 33.3 points, 14 rebounds, and 9.3 assists in 42 minutes per game while shooting 59 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from behind the three-point line. Try as the Miami Heat might, the Denver Nuggets‘ two-time league MVP has been nothing short of spectacular during his first trip to the Finals.
Jokic was the subject of a debate on Thursday morning’s edition of First Take, where Stephen A. Smith, Jay Williams, and J.J. Redick all talked about stuff with one another, as they are wont to do. At one point, Smith brought up one of the more insane takes we’ve ever heard on the show, which led to Redick pointing out that the take was, indeed, insane.
Stephen A says Jokic isn't known for having a dominant post-up game. JJ intervenes.
"I stand corrected"#MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/BwjRPP9oqi
— n i k o l a e s t h e t i c (@nikolaesthetic) June 8, 2023
“Jokic isn’t known for having some kind of dominant post game now,” Smith said while both Redick and Williams made faces as if they thought this was one of the craziest things they have ever heard someone say. “That’s not his game.”
Redick immediately jumped in, and even as Smith was asking if Jokic is a dominant post player, made it a point to interject and correct the record.
“Stephen A, we’ve got 10 years of tracking data,” Redick said. “Do you know what the No. 1 most efficient halfcourt play is, in 10 years, across the NBA? A Nikola Jokic post-up.”
Everyone but Smith took this as an invitation to pretend they were dropping a mic, while Smith asked if he could respond.
“Listen, Nikola Jokic got such a beautiful touch, he reminds me more of a [Kevin] McHale than a Shaq, is what I’m trying … you understand the difference that I’m saying?” Smith asked. “McHale was something special 10 feet and in, and I get it, but I’m just talking about drop step, dominant, when you look at Shaq, that was another level.”
Smith — who did go on to say “I stand corrected” as they were going to break — appears to be making a physicality vs. finesse argument, which doesn’t totally hold up here, as Jokic is capable of overpowering opposing players and cooking them with his bag of tricks. Still, seeing Stephen A. get totally caught off guard is rather rare, even if he is completely in the wrong on a subject.
