Nikola Jokic plays Volkswagen Golf defense in a Lamborghini league. It’s efficient. It’s effective. But it’s not in your face. It’s not showy.
It doesn’t easily translate to a poster, the way that a Dikembe Mutombo or a Marcus Camby did. It just … works.
“(Jokic is) an easy mark,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said earlier this week, “because he’s not that shot-blocking athletic guy that’s making plays at the rim.”
And yet, on top of everything else the reigning NBA MVP does better than anybody in the world, the Joker is also off — stealthily — to the best defensive start of his Nuggets career.