Nikola Jokić is one of the few NBA players who disregards his traditional shooting percentages in the name of launching end-of-quarter heaves pretty much any chance he gets. It’s only right that he be rewarded now and again.
So far this season Jokić has taken a league-high 20 heaves (almost double that of the next closest player, Mikal Bridges, who has taken 11), which are defined as coming from beyond half court. He’s now made two of them, the second of which was a one-handed, one-footed 62-footer to close the first half against the Jazz on Friday that he made look laughably casual.
Look at the footwork on this angle. This is not a travel. This is a legit Euro step, with a gather, from the opposite free-throw line.
This is circus stuff, man. And Jokić makes it look so easy. The first one he hit this season was from even farther away, and again was a one-handed flip.
With these two shots, Jokić joins Stephen Curry, another enthusiastic heaver, as the only two players in NBA history to make two shots from at least 60 feet in the same season.
What’s more, the buzzer-beater on Friday gave Jokić 16,003 career points. That makes him the fastest player in NBA history (739 games) to reach 16,000 points, 8,000 rebounds and 5,000 assists. The previous fastest was Larry Bird, who reached those figures in 799 games.
