LOS ANGELES — Not even history can break routine.
Nikola Jokic had just shredded the Los Angeles Lakers in tidy fashion en route to the Denver Nuggets’ first-ever trip to the NBA Finals. He’d played 45 minutes, 16 seconds, of sublime, scintillating basketball, including all 24 minutes of the second half.
He’d bullied Anthony Davis for his third triple-double in four games and set an NBA playoff record with his eighth triple-double of the postseason. His 30-point, 14-rebound, 13-assist, three-block masterpiece carried the Nuggets further than this franchise had ever been, earning him MVP of the Western Conference finals.
Having already made history, you’d think he’d allow himself a chance to recover and soak in the astounding performance he’d just authored.
But about 10 minutes after he and the Nuggets cleared the court following Monday night’s trophy presentation, Jokic left his stall in the far corner of Denver’s cramped but jubilant locker room and pivoted left.
There, waiting for him, was his wife and daughter. The three shared a tender, quiet moment with a few kisses.
But there was more work to do. A few steps away, behind a black curtain, the Nuggets had assembled a makeshift weight room. The Nuggets’ trainers were already there waiting.
Jokic dutifully went behind the curtain to conduct his postgame routine — lifting, stretching and recovery. On a night when he passed Wilt Chamberlain for the most triple-doubles in a single postseason, Jokic adhered to what helped him build the foundation in the first place.
Before his two brothers came bolting through the curtain, the music started playing.
“Some people call me the space cowboy …. Some call me the gangster of love…”
Yes, Jokic’s preferred postgame track was none other than “The Joker” by the Steve Miller Band.
Jokic is unlike any superstar in the NBA. Self-deprecating and fiercely loyal, winning is all that matters in his mind. But winning with the only team he’s ever known, with the same people who pushed him throughout the first eight years of his historic career, made it that much sweeter.
“It’s really from (equipment managers) Sparky (Gonzales) and Gene (Marquez) to family Kroenke,” Jokic said. “I think it’s something that we really build and we really — like I was drafted by the Nuggets, Jamal was drafted by the Nuggets. Mike was drafted by the Nuggets. AG is here a little while now. We get great, great pieces in Bruce and KCP, Jeff was a really good veteran and CB, who is in the rotation. To be honest, I don’t want to say, it’s literally everyone, not just players, and training and coaching staff. … I’m happy for everybody. So I think we are doing something nice.”
Nuggets coach Michael Malone knew better than to ask Jokic if he was comfortable playing the whole second half. After all, he’d once played 65 minutes in a playoff game at Portland during the 2018-19 season.
“I learned a long time ago if you ask somebody something, they can say no,” Malone said. “So I didn’t ask. It was one of those situations. They weren’t taking their guys out. Nikola, and I’m not joking when I say this, is just an ultra-conditioned athlete.”
Earlier in the series, in a nod to his other love, Malone compared him to Secretariat for his elite fitness.
Maybe it was hard to chalk his wild, one-footed 3-point heave late in the fourth quarter up to fitness, but his next basket certainly qualified. With 52 seconds left and the game tied at 111, Jokic ramrodded his way through Davis and Dennis Schroder en route to the rim. It was as unflinching and intentional of a basket as he scored all series.
“You don’t care about how tired you are, you don’t care about minutes, your fouls, shots, percentage, this and that,” Jokic said. “You just want to win a game, and you’re trying to win a game.”
That’s the type of competitor Jokic is, in any sport he plays. By any means necessary, Jokic was going to snatch Game 4 and re-write history. When asked about the attitude it took to win on the road after Game 3, Jokic scoffed at the notion that he’d ever participate in something without trying to win.
“The MVPs are real,” Malone said. “The triple-doubles are real. The narratives, the silly narratives this year are just that, silly and somewhat ignorant. I think Nikola has gone through three rounds now where he’s averaging a triple-double in the playoffs. Have you seen any stat padding out there? I’m serious, enough of the silliness. The guy is a great player; give him his damn respect. Stop chopping him down at the knees.”
Malone thought back to Jokic’s first Summer League where the goofy Serbian was just happy to be there. At 300-plus pounds, Malone could only call him a “nice” player. The All-Stars, MVPs and playoff runs were all so far in the distance as to only be theoretical at that point.
“No one ever could have seen that he’d be a two-time MVP, passing Wilt Chamberlain it seems like every other night,” Malone said. “That speaks to his dedication to his craft, getting in great shape and understanding that for him to fulfill his potential, he had to work harder.”
Within his historic rise, Jokic never lost his sense of humility. Asked who he was most happy for, Jokic savored the question for an extra moment.
“I think I’m so happy for Jamal (Murray), just proving that he’s worth and he’s a special player in this league,” Jokic said.
After games, it’s Jokic’s postgame routine which can take up to an hour after he lifts, showers, gets dressed and meets with the media.
It’s his routine, and it’s unrelenting.
In other words, history can wait.
