Nikola Jokic, nicknamed “The Joker,” was asleep in his home in Serbia the night he got drafted. In fact, his brother woke him up with a phone call to break the news to the 7 ft. big man. Viewers of the 2014 NBA draft were made aware of this second-round selection by the ticker at the bottom of the screen as ESPN aired a Taco Bell commercial. The 41st overall pick would go on to be an NBA All-Star and an MVP candidate just a few years later.
The unremarkable nature of this pick is laughable now, but it’s reminiscent of another stand-out athlete who was looked over in the draft process. Tom Brady, drafted 199th overall, was arguably the biggest steal in NFL draft history.
Paul Millsap compared his teammate Nikola Jokic to Brady based on his passing ability and capacity to make the right reads. Taking the comparison, a step further, both athletes are trusted by their coaches and teammates to be a catalyst for their offense. Nikola Jokic touches the basketball more times than any other player in the league and it’s not close. If you’re thinking to yourself `What about James Harden?’, Harden has touched the ball 82 times per game in the playoffs, Jokic has averaged 126 touches. For reference, Russell Westbrook is second with 95 touches per game and Harden is seventh overall.
Neither Jokic nor Brady have top-teir athleticism, but they’ve both found a way to dominate the game through their strengths. Now the controversial part: why Jokic is better than Brady. Just look at how dominant Jokic has been in such a short amount of time.
In his first year in the league, Jokic lead the Nuggets in PER and rebounding. In Tom’s first year, he threw for 6 yards. In his fourth year, The Joker was an NBA All-Star, MVP candidate, and passed Michael Jordan in career triple doubles. He’s also had the most assists by a 7-footer in the last 50 years. Chauncey Billups said Jokic is “a better passer than 80% of PGs in the NBA.” Tom Brady, in year 4, was 11th in the league in passing yards (behind 5 other QBs that you’ve probably never heard of).
Continuing at this (completely unsustainable) rate, Nikola Jokic is sure to be better than Tom Brady.
If you haven’t had a chance to watch the Joker this year, he’s extremely entertaining on and off the court. He’s essentially a 12-year-old in the body of a 7 ft. professional athlete. I’ll leave you with this: