“A point makes you happy, an assist makes you and your teammate happy. An assist makes two people happy.” A unicorn is a creature that comes from legends and looks like a horse with one horn on its head. In short, not real.
In the NBA they borrowed the term unicorn in the sense of a player who can do anything. This is usually a tall player who is able to drop a ball to the floor, score from any range, deliver assists, take rebounds, block, and actually be unique – and like the mythological creatures in question it is very difficult to find him.
Jukic. Any bonbonniere delivery
(Photo: AFP)
When one thinks of such players, a particularly limited list emerges in the league. Still, they are rare. Yannis Endocombo is like that, Kevin Durant and Kristaps Forzingis also fall into the category, but for the past year and a half there has been a unicorn that stands out above them all – Nikola Jukic.
The chubby Serbian boy, who in 2014 was selected somewhere in 41st place in the draft, has become the most efficient and diverse chin in the league, and Denver benefits from every second of it on the floor.
His 18-assist show yesterday (Monday through Tuesday) in a light 111: 124 against Houston was an impressive display of purpose on the entire 25-year-old chin’s set of abilities. Rounds in the post, off-archery shots, ball delivery, and most importantly an extraordinary dedication cluster.
Jokic vs. Houston
(Photo: AP)
With his back to the basket, with a crooked eye, over the hands of the Rockets players, between two guards – Jukic always managed to find the free agent and arranged for him to take a free look at the basket. How unusual was this evening? The Nuggets star is the first chin since 1968 (!) With such an amount of assists in one game. So that was Wilt Chamberlain.
But let’s face it, it’s too easy to compare him to chins, more fun to compare him to all the players in league history, and especially to the coordinators. In his first three games this season, Yukic has provided no less than 42 assists (yes, that’s an average of 14 per game. Yes, that’s the most so far this season. And yes, that’s completely insane). In fact, since the merger of the ABA with the NBA in 1976, only three players have started a season with at least as many assists – all three coordinators, and some more coordinators. John Stockton (three times), Magic Johnson (twice), and Rajon Rondo.
“I was just trying to play my game,” the “Joker” said with typical modesty at the end. “I never get on the floor feeling like I’m going to score. Yes, I should have been more aggressive, especially in the second half.”
More aggressive? Although he scored “only” 19 points, to which he also added 12 rebounds, rose to ninth place in the history of the league in triple-doubles (43, along with Pat Lever), and on the way arranged for his team a first victory of the season, but despite everything Jukic is looking for what he is not Did fine on his historic night. This is the mentality with which he rises to the floor.
For almost 15 minutes in the second half the wonderful chin did not take a single shot. He did distribute 11 assists, hit 5 rebounds, snatched twice and also recorded a plus-minus of 17, with the Nuggets cruising to victory.
Malone. His method is perfect for the Joker
(Photo: AP)
“We started the season with a 2-0 balance and we got to the game against Houston like that,” said coach Michael Mellon, “and he decided to take it upon himself. He did more, brought more of himself, helped the rest of the players more. This mentality also permeates all the other players on the team. “
But wait, it’s impossible not to treat the elephant in the room. Yukic does not have the body of an athlete. He has no speed or athleticism of an athlete, certainly not of one in the NBA. But there is a good situation that he is one of the smartest players in the league, perhaps the smartest.
“I believe the only muscles needed in basketball are the ones inside your brain.” He said this sentence three years ago, when the truth is that most of his career is criticized for his overweight, heaviness (allegedly) and the fact that he does not have the looks or charisma of a superstar in the league.
What does he have? A quarterback’s hand with the body of a heavyweight boxer. “I think I brought something different to the NBA. I showed that I can do just about anything on the floor,” he had already said.
And regarding weight? It does not really interest him. “The things that are said about me just don’t bother me,” he claimed last season, after opening it at 129kg, fourth in the entire league. “People just put all sorts of things on. It doesn’t matter if they are right or wrong, they just want to be heard. “
So instead of talking, Jukic does, and he does very well. Last season the Nuggets twice overcame a 3: 1 deficit in the playoffs turned 3: 4, including a memorable series against the Clippers that included several Joker appearances, stopping only in the Western Conference Finals against the king of assists, LeBron James and the Lakers.
The roster on paper looks weaker this season, but if the Serb continues to feed his teammates so well, Jukic and the Nuggets can dream big.