Some people severely underestimate Jokic's athletic ability

[Wardell Curry]

Here's my examples of some of the things I'm hearing. Steven A Smith regularly talks about Jokic being slow and unathletic a lot. I just watched 10 minutes of Kwame's rant to Shannon Sharpe and he said that Jokic can play until he's 50 because his game isn't based on athleticism.

I see people parrot these viewpoints during online NBA discussion regularly. Obviously, overall athleticism is not the strength of Jokic's game, but for his size he is extremely quick with an incredible first step.

Has anyone actually watched Jokic play? He can go from 0 to 60 for a guy his size at the drop of a hat and get to the rim or to a spot to put up a shot with relative ease against anyone that is even close to his size. He will not be able to do that at 40 years old, let alone 50 years old.

It's just weird to me how people get certain reputations that stick even when they're blatantly false.

[GimmeThat]

his heart is imported from a different country, hence when people hear things about the guy, it can not quite add up

[plowking]

Great first step, great static strength, probably the best hand eye coordination for a big ever, fantastic footwork, and he often beats a lot of players up the court off a rebound...

The thing is, the narrative of "his game is not based on athleticism, so he'll be great for long" is pushed all the time. In reality, it is the hyper athletes who end up being greater for longer.

[Wardell Curry]

Great first step, great static strength, probably the best hand eye coordination for a big ever, fantastic footwork, and he often beats a lot of players up the court off a rebound...

The thing is, the narrative of "his game is not based on athleticism, so he'll be great for long" is pushed all the time. In reality, it is the hyper athletes who end up being greater for longer.

You are exactly right. You pretty much have to be next world all time athletic to stay in the NBA by age 40.

But still, Jokic is athletic. He might primarily be in the NBA based on his brain, but without his athleticism, he would not be in the NBA.

[plowking]

You are exactly right. You pretty much have to be next world all time athletic to stay in the NBA by age 40.

But still, Jokic is athletic. He might primarily be in the NBA based on his brain, but without his athleticism, he would not be in the NBA.

Agreed. But I think he is a guy that will taper off similar to Duncan. That high peak goes away quickly, but still serviceable for a long time.

They extraordinary athletes are the ones that stay high level for a long time.

He is a good athlete regardless, but not traditionally for basketball, as in lateral movement, jumping, etc, which can get away from you quickly once you get older and makes it harder to keep up.

[90sgoat]

First of all, he is a really big guy. Second, he is a very strong guy.

Davis could not move him at all in the post. I've never seen anyone in recent years bully Jokic, while he bullies almost everyone else.

He'd probably be good as a powerlifter.

His main issue is probably that being that heavy makes him gas out sooner, but losing weight might make him less dominant. It's a bit out of the Lakers Shaq playbook.

[HoopologyPhD]

Athleticism is a bit of a catch all referring to mostly physical characteristics but if you don't have anything between the ears or you have bad instincts or slow reaction time, you will stink at your sport.
This is probably why alot of fast, strong, agile NFL players aren't worth doo doo because their minds can't process the actions of the game fast enough.

[tpols]

He isn't really athletic at all by any measurable. 40 yard dash, vertical, cone drills, bench press 225 for reps would all be below average compared to the average football player. He's just got great core strength and mentally super elite anticipation. His 1st step isn't that quick, but defenders never know what he's going to do and they have to respect his GOAT passing so it leaves them on their heels. Nobody watches jokic and thinks damn... this guy is an incredible athlete.

[Wardell Curry]

He isn't really athletic at all by any measurable. 40 yard dash, vertical, cone drills, bench press 225 for reps would all be below average compared to the average football player. He's just got great core strength and mentally super elite anticipation. His 1st step isn't that quick, but defenders never know what he's going to do and they have to respect his GOAT passing so it leaves them on their heels. Nobody watches jokic and thinks damn... this guy is an incredible athlete.

Case in point: This is the type of guy that thinks Jokic can play until 50.

[warriorfan]

This is always a somewhat confusing discussion because of what people’s different criteria of what athleticism is.

Obviously Jokic lacks explosiveness. He does have good size, strength, balance, and coordination though.

Just like there’s different types of intelligence there are different types of athleticism.

[Wardell Curry]

Just like there’s different types of intelligence there are different types of athleticism.

This is a fair point and I guess part of my overall point. No, Nikola Jokic is not winning any fast breaks down the court nor is he dunking by putting his nuts in someone's face, but he has a first step that will often let him get by people including Anthony Davis. He will not have this at 40, let alone 50. His hand eye coordination is off the charts for a 7 footer.

[Wardell Curry]

I mean the man was out there putting Anthony Davis in the washing machine. One of the very best NBA defenders and a super athletic guy for 7 foot. Jokic is athletic.

[tpols]

Case in point: This is the type of guy that thinks Jokic can play until 50.

He's too heavy for that. So I never said that.

Peak athleticism is like a Tiger. Super fast, muscular, leaping ability, strength, and agility. Like prime Wade or Kobe. Or Lebron.

Jokic is like an elephant. Huge and extremely intelligent. His athleticism is not elite at all.

[nineiron]

I mean the man was out there putting Anthony Davis in the washing machine. One of the very best NBA defenders and a super athletic guy for 7 foot. Jokic is athletic.

having good footwork and fakes is not athleticism you dumbass. Bird could put anyone in the spin cycle but was not athletic at all.

[Wardell Curry]

His athleticism is absolutely elite. This is a big reason why he is in the NBA. Every NBA player has elite level athleticism. Not all NBA players have elite athleticism based on the NBA standard comparing them to their peers, no, that is obvious.

Or are you trying to suggest players fade out of the league because they're losing skills? They're all losing athleticism as time goes on past their early 20s. I thought this was obvious.

Nikola Jokic would very likely smoke you running up and down a basketball court and he doesn't have a fast top speed at all for NBA standards.