The Six Best Passes Nikola Jokic Has Slung Against the Clippers
Nikola Jokic really loves to pass, which is understandable, since he might be a more creative passer than anyone else in basketball. He leads the playoffs in passes per game, and among centers is second to none in just about every statistical category having to do with the sport’s most egalitarian act.
Jokic’s most aesthetically pleasing passes usually prompt a one-word question: how? There’s cartography in his work; the reigning 1st-team All-NBA center doesn’t see the floor so much as command the other nine pieces on it. He manipulates defenders by reading their momentum before softly delivering a care package to a teammate.
Jokic’s dominance in the Denver Nuggets series against the Los Angeles Clippers can be attributed to several skills that elevate his passing, from the dominant post moves that demand a double team to the precise three-point shot that lets him pump-and-drive into a self-created 5-on-4 advantage. He’ll whip the ball cross-court and side-arm or shovel it underhand—passes that you’d expect to see from a scrambling quarterback or water polo wing, not a 7’0”” NBA center.
To get ready for Game 7, I watched every single pass Jokic made in this series (about 500), then ranked the best. It was an impossible task, especially as I tried to whittle the best 15 or so down—it felt like selecting your favorite Stevie Wonder songs or AJ1 colorways— which is why there are six passes on this list, rather than the intended five.
6. Game 4: Just your typical “overhead, cross-court, no-look for 3”
The most ridiculous Jokic passes are the ones only he knows he’s throwing. Here, all five Clippers are convinced he’s either executing a dribble hand-off with Paul Millsap or dumping the ball off to Gary Harris as he slips to the hole. But no. What happens instead is why they call him The Joker: an overhead, cross-court no-look that hits Jerami Grant right in his shot pocket and catches all five defenders off guard.
5. Game 3: Jokic is the NBA’s most fun teammate
Even though this isn’t even the most impressive outlet pass Jokic has thrown in this series, what it did do was shatter NBA twitter, and for good reason. In the future, packets of $10,000 bills should be printed as flip books that make this play come to life. It’s a crisp touchdown pass, completed perfectly, with zero hesitation and no margin for error, absent consistent practice reps. Jokic just knows that Jerami Grant is streaking up the floor without seeing him take off. How?
4. Game 1: A brilliant wraparound to Jamal Murray
A regular release valve for a driving player headed towards the baseline is in the opposite corner. Landry Shamet knows this, so he follows Jokic’s eyes and then sinks down there in front of Grant to intercept the ball. Against most players, this is a steal. Against Jokic, who somehow zips a perfect pass across his body to an open Jamal Murray for three, it’s a costly mistake.
If you have a hard time appreciating how insane this pass is, pause the clip as the game clock hits 7:14 and look at where Jokic is in the passing motion vs. where the Clippers and Murray are positioned on the court. This pass could only have been thrown by someone who just traveled three seconds back in time.
3. Game 5: How did he see that?
First, notice that it’s a three-point game with five minutes to go and Denver’s season is on the line. The shot clock is ticking down, and as Jokic winds his arm back to fling the ball towards the baseline, there is seemingly no conceivable angle to squeeze it through such a thicket of Clipper arms. The degree of difficulty on so many of Jokic’s passes is 10 out of 10—this was somewhere around a 14, and bold enough to catch Kawhi freaking Leonard flat-footed.
2. Game 2: The most unique outlet pass...ever?
Who am I to quibble if you prefer No. 5, the other one-armed outlet pass on this list? Both are magnificent. This pass, though, struck me as something slightly closer to a physical impossibility. I mean, I’m pretty sure he flings this off his tippy toes? And the way Jokic controls the rebound after tipping it up in the air to himself, then has the immediate presence of mind to fling it the length of the floor to Harris? Beyond silly. Who does that?
1. Game 3: The director
It’s not uncommon to rewind at least one Jokic pass two or three times every game, just to try to see what he somehow saw in real time. But this play was a little different. Instead of intuitively anticipating how the play would unfold, Jokic dictated exactly what would happen like a stage director during dress rehearsal.
With 17 seconds on the shot clock, Jokic grabs the attention of Monte Morris and points for him to run from the weak-side wing to the strongside dunker spot. Jokic knew how the Clippers would cover his ball screen for Jamal Murray, and that his 4-on-3 advantage would force poor Shamet (who the Nuggets have picked on throughout this series) to step up and stop the ball. The whole time, Jokic’s eyes are on Jerami Grant in the corner. He uses them to freeze Leonard, then hits Morris with a soft no-look for the easy layup. If you see a more advanced pass than this one, please let me know.
Originally Appeared on GQ
