Welcome to Jokic Week!
The staff here at Denver Stiffs is excited to announce our first ever theme week. From Monday to Saturday, we will be celebrating Nikola Jokic, the 23-year-old Serbian center and star of the Denver Nuggets. We’ll look back on his career so far and relive some of his best games, highlights, and moments. We’ve created an NCAA-style bracket featuring the 32 best plays of his career, allowing fans to vote on which no-look pass, fallaway shot, or slow-motion crossover ranks as the best of his career.
We’ll also be discussing different aspects of his game, bringing in guests to provide insight into his unique skill set and personality. We’ll be sharing some of the best mixtapes, stories, and columns written about him over the years, both from Denver Stiffs and from around the web. And we’ll look forward as we analyze various storylines that are emerging as he attempts to lead the Nuggets into the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
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We chose this week for a very specific reason. It was back on December 15th, 2016 that the “Jokic era” took hold in Denver. It was Joker’s sophomore season in the NBA and the first year that the Denver Nuggets had fully committed to rebuilding through the draft but it wasn’t until December 15th that the Nuggets named him a full-time starter and the fulcrum of the team’s high-powered offensive attack. From that date on, the Nuggets lead the league in offensive efficiency, even surpassing the 73-win Golden State Warriors. They went 31-26 over the final 57 games of the season.
Most important of all, Jokic’s breakout run represented a clear direction and identity for the team, an identity that calls back to some other beloved eras of Nuggets basketball. His smooth shot and above the head release reminded the oldest Nuggets fans of Dan Issel back in the 1970’s. His fast-paced, passing-friendly brand of basketball reminded Nuggets fans of the “passing game” that was popularized by the Doug Moe era Nuggets of the 1980’s. His happy-go-lucky personality and foreign accent reminded Nuggets fans of Dikembe Mutombo and the Nuggets of the 1990’s. His ability to improvise in a free-flowing offense was something George Karl’s Nuggets of the 2000’s would strive toward and occasionally master.
Jokic is the most popular Denver Nuggets player since Carmelo Anthony and, although he still has a long way to go to get there, he has the talent to become one of the greatest Denver Nuggets player of all time.
So join us as we celebrate Joker. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube as we’ll be sharing unique content on all platforms.
It’s Jokic week.
Let’s get this thing poppin.
