what about …
slow? Well, now we’re on to something. Here we find his sauce.
It’s the speed with which he plays, or rather the lack of it, that sets him apart in the NBA Jokic, the two-time most valuable player in the league, could write a textbook on the game he came to master: basketball and the fine arts of slow.
This private college isn’t entirely about jogging pace. Jokic can move fairly quickly in spurts. It is equally kind. When he’s on court, no matter the circumstances, he seems to be in control of time. He moves where he wants, when he wants, while every other player on the field is just walking around in a frenzy.
On Saturday night, when the Nuggets and Lakers rookies gathered on the field at the Crypto.com Arena before a tip-off in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, it seemed like every other player was jumping up and down, nervously fiddling with their uniforms, or looking for someone to make it to the Big Five.
Jokic just stood in the center court, focused, waiting. It brought to mind something Jeff Van Gundy, a former NBA coach and now a television analyst for ESPN, said to me before the game, describing the towering Serbian player. He looks completely unfazed. Jokic is an example of John Wooden’s quote, “Be quick, don’t be quick.”
“It’s an absolute marvel,” Van Gundy added.
Wait, this guy, Marvel? Jokic is muscular, but hardly ripped. It stands nearly 7 feet tall, weighs about as much as a sub-zero refrigerator, and has arms that might as well be the wings of a pterodactyl. He’s 28, still in his mid-peak years due to physical prowess, but he might stumble while trying to jump over the Sunday paper.