Jokic, the Denver Nuggets star, is doing everything in the N.B.A. playoffs: shooting, rebounding, blocking — and firing one-handed crosscourt passes like he’s in a swimming pool.
Written content by Scott Cacciola via The New York Times
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Ciaran Wolohan was watching the Denver Nuggets play on television a couple of years ago when he saw an enormous man with gangly arms grab a defensive rebound, spin around and uncork an 85-foot pass to a teammate for a fast-break layup, all in one fluid motion.
Wolohan, who coaches men’s and women’s water polo at Wagner College on Staten Island, was taken aback. He hopped onto the internet.
“I had to look up who he was, because he was this big, unfit-looking guy,” Wolohan said. “But it was just this amazing, full-field pass, and I was like: perfect water polo technique.”
The player was Nikola Jokic, and Wolohan was not surprised to learn that Jokic was from Serbia, a water polo hotbed.
“He’s been around water polo,” Wolohan said. “You can tell for sure.”
Jokic, a 7-foot, 284-pound center, might just be the water polo world’s favorite basketball player. He passes like a water polo player, treats the tactics of basketball like one and even resembles one, with his shipping-crate frame.
“It’s a big man’s sport,” said Sean Tierney, 47, who plays for the Denver Water Polo Club. “There’s a lot of physical contact — a lot of bellying up.”
On Sunday, Jokic did everything for the Nuggets but put them over the top in a 105-103 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of the N.B.A.’s Western Conference finals. He had 30 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and 4 steals, and he scored the Nuggets’ final 12 points before Anthony Davis beat the buzzer with a game-winning 3-pointer for the Lakers.
Denver trails in the best-of-seven series, two games to none, ahead of Game 3 on Tuesday.
“We need to fight,” said Jokic, an All-N.B.A. second-team selection. “That’s our only chance.” Read more from The New Times
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