Jones: I was wrong about Nikola Jokić. He’s the best player in the world right now

DENVER — In April, when I was coming off a long season of covering the Utah Jazz, I received a phone call from my editor, who assigned me the Denver Nuggets throughout the playoffs. It was a funny phone conversation, one that started with an awkward silence when I heard the word Denver. Then, I shifted my feet a little.

And then I let out a laugh.

And so did my boss.

We both knew what that meant. We both knew this column could be coming at some point in the postseason. And we knew this because, at the time, we both knew the Nuggets were good enough to win the Western Conference and advance to the NBA Finals. And that’s exactly what Denver did, starting with Thursday’s Game 1 at Ball Arena against the upstart Miami Heat.

Today’s era of journalism sometimes requires you to take losses, or what we commonly refer to as L’s. It requires analysis that sometimes doesn’t age well. It requires Twitter battles with entire fan bases, who don’t agree with said analysis. One of my more memorable battles has always been with Nuggets fans over Nikola Jokić, and just how good he is.

For me and Nuggets fans, those battles have turned into arguments and back-and-forths over multiple seasons. My piece of advice to anyone reading this. Find someone who will stand by you, be loyal to you and defend you as much as Nuggets fans have defended Jokić.

Well, Nuggets fans, here is the loss I will take. I was wrong. You were right.

I don’t think this is especially egregious on my part, on the whole. Nuggets fans have long argued that Jokić is the best player in the world. I countered with him being fifth in my rankings, behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. My argument for Jokić being behind those four? They have done it at the highest levels of basketball, and in a playoff setting, I would take those four over Jokić.

That was blasphemy to Nuggets fans, but to their credit, they turned out to be correct in their argument. Jokić has been far and away the best player in basketball during these playoffs. He was better than Durant when the Nuggets defeated the Phoenix Suns in a Western Conference semifinal. He was better than James when the Nuggets swept the Lakers in the Western Conference finals. And when James turned in an otherworldly performance in Game 4 of that series, essentially a 40-point triple-double, it was Jokić that scored the game-winning basket of the series and muted the impact of James’ all-timer with an all-timer of his own.

And that’s what it takes to be the best player in basketball. It takes those kinds of performances regularly. What James did in Game 4 of that series, which seems like eons ago, but is the last game the Nuggets have played, Jokić has done all playoffs long. What Curry did in Game 7 of a first-round win over the Sacramento Kings, Jokić has been doing for almost two months. The 39-point masterpiece Durant turned in during the Phoenix series, Jokić has made that look routine.

Fans are supposed to defend their own, I get it. I cover the Utah Jazz and those fans have loved Rudy Gobert for a decade. It’s taken Gobert being traded to Minnesota for the Jazz fan base to accept Gobert’s flaws. So, fans are going to be vocal, they are going to be loyal to their guy, and when it comes to Twitter that loyalty certainly comes in droves.

But, this is a bit different.

Jokić has made improvements to his game and his skill set, little things, subtle things, that have turned him from a superstar top-five level player to the guy who should currently wear the crown as the best player in the world. And some of those things are impossible to see unless you watch him play every single day. And I say this as someone who watches Jokić play a heck of a lot and who isn’t in the Denver market.

But, from covering the Nuggets, I realize just how in shape Jokić is, and how much better his conditioning is now compared to earlier in his career. In this playoff run, he’s been as fresh in fourth quarters as he has been at the beginning of games. He’s beaten his matchups up the court, as he did to Gobert on that first-round clinching late Game 5 possession that went a long way toward the Nuggets eliminating Minnesota. He consistently did the same thing to Anthony Davis against the Lakers.

More importantly, Jokić is one of the few players in the league that you can’t speed up. James is another one. Luka Dončić is another one. Those three guys play at their pace. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird also did this, as well as Michael Jordan.

Where Jokić stands out in this realm is that he’s a center. NBA Twitter is often full of hyperbole. Best ever at this, best ever at that. And the person in question is 28 with his entire career ahead of him. But, Jokić might be the best center we’ve ever seen at dictating tempo and making the opposition play at his speed. Bill Walton and Arvydas Sabonis are the other centers that come to mind there. But they controlled games in the half court. Jokić essentially being a point guard in the body of a center allows him to control a game through the full 94 feet. And that is something I’m not sure we’ve ever consistently seen out of an NBA center.

The macro things about Jokić’s game, we knew and have discussed for years. The insane passing ability. The scoring acumen. But Jokić also is one of the best rebounders in the league on both ends. He’s one of the best finishers in the league, which is amazing for a guy that plays the game under the rim. He’s one of the best ballhandlers in the league. And he’s translated all of it into this playoff run, a run that is four wins away from a championship.

If he can keep this level of play through the next five years, Denver’s title window should be wide open, and Jokić will have a chance to etch his name up by some of the all-time lists that we regularly haggle over.

A key to being the best player is beating the best. And in this playoff run, Jokić has led his team through the following players: Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards, Durant and Devin Booker, James and Davis. He’s been by far the best player in every series he’s been in this postseason. In a season where the noise surrounding MVP became toxic, Jokić has proven to be the best player in the NBA without saying much of anything.

Me saying Jokić is a top-five player may not seem like much of a gap from where Nuggets fans have long claimed he was. But in this case the gap between where I said Jokić was at, and where he is significant. And part of being the best journalist that I strive to be is being able to admit someone else was correct. And this admittance is something I have no problem making. We cover what happens in this job, we write about it, we analyze and then we write some more.

My social media arguments with Nuggets fans won’t be the last I ever have. But in this case, they were correct. And I was wrong.

Jones: I was wrong about Nikola Jokić. He’s the best player in the world right now

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