Nikola Jokić’s physique and demeanor at times don’t fully capture just how brilliant his offensive prowess is.
The three-time NBA MVP has established himself as an all-time top-20 player, but it took his former Denver Nuggets teammate, Michael Porter Jr., some time to truly see his greatness on NBA hardwood.
Michael Porter Jr. Recalled How Incredible It Was Watching Nikola Jokić Turn It Up During NBA Games
During a January 2024 appearance on Trae Young’s “From The Point” podcast, Porter recalled how he was relatively unimpressed with Jokić in practice. Of course, that all changed when he saw him play with actual stakes involved.
Porter came into the league as a highly touted prospect. He fell to 14th in the 2018 NBA Draft due to his back issues and subsequent surgeries. However, the Nuggets took a chance on him, as he had proven himself a brilliant off-the-dribble shooter in high school and college.
Funnily enough, Porter didn’t know much about the Nuggets, claiming he “barely knew” they were an NBA team.
“I get drafted there and they’re telling me that they got this big dude who’s really good. But you know how it is in college, we were paying more attention to college. I didn’t really know how good Joker was, but people around the organization kept telling me how good he was.”
In 2018, Jokić was fresh off a career year of averaging 18.5 points and 6.1 assists. It was his first full season stint as the Nuggets’ starting center.
“We get out to training camp, and Mason’s a pretty athletic big, so he was just catching lobs, dunking, running the floor. And Joker’s just wobbling around like not really caring, nonchalant, and he’s not really killing in training camp,” he said.
Porter was then reassured by Nuggets personnel that he needed to “wait,” saying Jokić could “score 40 a game if he wants to.” Porter’s reaction based solely on Jokić’s training camp play was, “no way.”
This culminated with Porter being proven wrong about his predisposed notions regarding Jokić almost immediately after the 2018-19 regular season started.
“And then we get to the season and he’s going crazy. One game he’ll have twenty rebounds, next game he’ll have fifteen assists, next game he’ll have thirty, the next game after that he’ll have all those combined. And I’m like, bro, what’s going on.”
Porter and Jokić shared the floor for six seasons and won a title together in 2023. The former is the perfect archetype of a player to pair with Jokić. A reliable spot-up shooter who can get his own shot off, a solid wing defender, and nifty in transition.
It was Porter’s presence on the baseline/wing that led to some of the most potent offensive actions for Denver. Aaron Gordon’s baseline cuts were fueled by the fact that someone as offensively gifted as Porter was waiting beyond the arc to get a shot off.
After teaming up with Jokić, Porter became aware of how good the 6-foot-11 center was. So much so that Porter refused to anoint Michael Jordan as the greatest of all time because he had never seen him play in person.
So, Porter’s alternative? He said on the Emily Austin Show, “For me, with my own two eyes from what I’ve seen in my life, I’m going to say Nikola Jokić is the best basketball player I’ve ever seen.”
Sadly, Jokić lost his sharpshooting wing when the Nuggets traded him to the Nets during the 2025 offseason. With Denver’s magical pick-and-roll action revolving around Jokić and Jamal Murray, bringing in a Porter archetype might be a smart solution to reignite their offense.
