Nikola Jokic is not "Unathletic" or "Out-of-Shape"

People calling Jokic out of shape is strange because that hasn't been the case since the bubble in 2020. He's also very durable. He plays high minutes and hardly ever gets hurt.

How is bro dominating his way to a Finals appearance and people still saying he's out of shape 😭

Also pointing out how athleticism isn't just running and Jumping is super important, Ben Taylor talks about this a lot because It is something that for example makes like Steph Curry awesome is the hand eye coordination and balance.

4:36 what's really funny is that Jokic has the most minutes played in an NBA playoff game with the 4OT Denver Portland Series back in 2019. If he was truly "out of shape" his performance during that game would have dipped. But it didn't.

Another aspect of athleticism is body control. A guy like Luka can control and contort his body in ways that allow him to finish at the rim despite not having explosive leaping ability. Joking also has this looseness when he does jump which allows him to find a “path of least resistance” to the rim despite his lack of vertical

A breath of fresh air knowing you’re back, almost everybody else is a casual, love you MDJ

Another upside to Jokic's less-than-average verticality: A billion % less injuries.

Jokic is incredibly fit. Imagine playing and training in Denver almost every day. Guarantee, 99% of people can't do that.

Anyone who watched the 4OT game again the blazers in 2019 knows how great his stamina is 👹✅

He's one of the hardest working players in the league and he's in excellent shape. People are idiots

Remember that Ayton quote from the bench... "How big is Jokic... He can run, bro.".. Also, Jokic was beating Ayton in running box to box. I don't think people realize how much workload he does.... Jokic does bonus workout after every game, and most people don't know that... He was fatigued in the Lakers series in the bubble, and he was pissed about that and decided to take his cardio and workout to the next level, and he most certainly did.

Jokic’s athletic “weaknesses” is boiled down to his lack of true speed and bounce. Two athletic traits common in most of the superstars the league has seen. He’s also just an enigma on and off the court

I think that at times his movements appear awkward or uncoordinated too. He just moves differently to most other people, and that can make him "appear" unathletic, but just because he doesn't look as smooth, doesn't mean he is unathletic and I think he uses that seemingly awkward movement to his advantage because it's harder for people to predict how he is going to move. so he's that much harder to defend.

He’s one of the most intelligent and skilled players in the league. He’ll have a long career because his play style is very sustainable.

As a commenter here said, Ben Taylor of thinkingbasketball categorized athleticism. Jokic is not fast twitch, explosive vertical or horizontal athletic. But he is elite in everything else. Coordination, flexibility, footwork, deceleration, stamina, durability. Thanks for the video.

Glad you're back to making videos! You were one of my favorite channels before you left. Your "Basketball before the NBA" video is still one of my favorites of all time. Great thoughts on Jokic btw.

What a Solid and Thorough Breakdown! This was impressive AF! You literally made me see the Joker in a diff light. This was needed💯 Appreciate the Content Fam🙌🏽💯💯💯

It's great to have you back! Your well-thought-out insights and perspectives were sorely missed during your absence.

Welcome back MDJ!! We missed you man, glad to see that passion basketball rekindled 🫶🏽

thank god you're back bringing in actual sensible takes back to the community. It's insane to me that ppl think he's out of shape. He's so strong and runs the fast break constantly compared to other centers and he's almost never injured which you can't be in shape when you're constantly in the rehab room trying to get back into shape lol. Bro played 60 minutes in a 4OT game. Look at his footwork and touch, he has great hands too, and like you said amazing hand eye coordination which is why he gets so many tip ins and deflections. It's also how he's able to get a hold of bad or awkward passes. And it's not just that he's a phenomenal passer, his vision is insane too. Overall he's so skilled and basically uses all his physical traits to his advantage. I also think him not jumping much when shooting helps him not get tired so easily. It's hard having to carry all that weight lol it's why I think embiid needs to stop throwing himself around it's just asking to get injured.