Poor Jonathan Isaac.
And by poor, I don’t mean in the literal sense of the word. Jonathan Isaac is a God-fearing young man who makes $25 million a year playing for the Orlando Magic.
I mean poor in the proverbial sense of the word, for what I saw the other night, Isaac got beaten to the basket so badly, his opponent made him question his very existence. Why bother playing the game when you can never be as good as the man you’re assigned to defend?
You see, there was a moment in the first quarter when Jonathan Isaac was left on an island, stranded, defenseless, quite literally, stuck having to guard three-time MVP Nikola Jokic on the lower left block. It was a mismatch of otherworldly proportions if only because Jokic is as otherworldly as anyone we’ve seen play this game. I say this not because Jokic is from halfway around the globe but because he continues to do things on a basketball court that no player has ever done.
Last Sunday night, a group of us drove to Orlando to watch the man they call the Joker do it live where I can assure you, it’s even more confounding in person.

Jokic’s game is a lulling to sleep, the kind of embarrassment he inflicts a slow drip from which you can’t escape. Like a shapeshifter, you know what’s coming, you just don’t know its form and there’s nothing you can do about it. He is next-level indefensible, revolutionizing the game and I’m not sure we’ll ever see another like him.
I saw Hakeem Olajuwon play basketball in the mid-90s and man, that was a lot of fun. He was a nice guy too, for an assassin. The Dream would embarrass you. He did so against a young Shaquille O’Neal in the NBA Finals, sweeping Shaq’s Magic in four games and all but inspiring O’Neal to better his game and ultimately become the champion he was. On the night he was awarded NBA MVP, David Robinson was torched so badly by Hakeem Olajuwon, he probably left the trophy in the trunk of his car.
Jokic’s post moves and soft touch around the basket are deceiving like the Dream’s, probably more so as Jokic appears to be less athletic, yet don’t be fooled. They are equally unstoppable, wearing you down until you say mercy.
But the Dream could never hit outside jumpers the way Jokic can. Jokic is second in the league in three-point field goal percentage. The Dream sure as hell didn’t average 12 assists a game. And, as efficient as he was, Olajuwon never shot over 54% from the floor; Jokic averages 56%. In fact, his .563 FG percentage this year is his lowest in the last five seasons. Jokic is a three-dimensional Hakeem Olajuwon, just burlier and with a 1950s flattop which makes him even more deceptive.
His tenth year in the league, Jokic is averaging career highs in both points and assists. He’s averaging thirty points a game for the first time in his career. He’s on the verge of averaging a triple double from the center position. He has twice as many triple-doubles this season (19) as the next player (Lebron – 9). And before you go criticizing his defense, think again. Jokic is fourth in the league in steals. Unlike other NBA centers, Jokic plays his defense below the rim, not above it, his hands as quick as his instincts.
To call him the focal point of Denver’s offense would be an insult; he drives it. He is a giant Serbian satellite around which everything else orbits. He does what he wants when he wants. He’s slow, methodical but if you blink, you’ll miss something.
Jonathan Isaac missed something. By the time Isaac’s skinny frame attempted to stop Jokic from scoring, it was too late. A simple shimmy to the right to fake his defender in that direction, and then it was all over except for the dejection.
Watch this video, 56 seconds in.
To be fair, Isaac, despite his length, had no business defending the big Serb in the first place. In his defense, or the lack thereof, few in the league do. After his fake-right-drive-left, Jokic sauntered back down court workmanlike and confident. He took a brief glance over his broad shoulder at Isaac as if to remind him that he could get that shot at any time and there was nothing Isaac, or any Magic player, could do about it. It was going to be a long night for anyone who had the assignment, bring a lunchpail.
Ten points, seven assists in the first quarter. As we watched along in awe, I texted that information to a good friend of mine, also Serbian. He joked back that the Joker sometimes starts a little slow. Apparently dry humor is a national trait. Jokic had notched yet another season-leading triple double in only three quarters. His Nuggets were up so convincingly, he barely played the fourth.
Again, if you blinked, you missed him.
We’re getting to the point where we’re going to have to start including him among the best centers ever. In no particular and certainly arguable order, you have Kareem, Russell, Wilt, Shaq and Hakeem but the Joker is punching his way onto that list if he’s not already there. He’s accumulating stats like a slot machine on tilt, with three MVPs and warranting another real soon, unless the voters decide politically and incorrectly that they’ve given him enough. Only five players in the history of the league have won four or more MVPs: Kareem (6), Russell and Jordan (5 each), Wilt and LeBron (4 each).

But the purpose of this exercise is not to tell you Jokic is an all-time great. You knew that already and if you didn’t, you better recognize. He is the game’s most unassuming superstar with court vision like few others who preceded him. He requires so much attention that the instant you take an eye off one of his teammates, Jokic spots them, leads them to the basket and hits them in stride. Or, in the poor defenseless Isaac’s case, they isolate him for game, set, match.
Jokic is Parliament Funkadelic’s Unfunky UFO, stripping away the funk from anyone who attempts to cover him, yet remains inherently funky in his own right, and like the P-funk, is undeniably interplanetary. His game against Orlando was a Bob Ross canvas, painted in only thirty minutes by a soft-spoken artist, creating a masterpiece before your eyes that you can’t quite comprehend until you see the finished product.

Jokic’s stat line that evening: 30 minutes, 20 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists, 7-9 from the floor, 3 steals. I should remind you that the Orlando Magic is one of the league’s better defensive teams. If the NBA had a QBR rating, Jokic’s would be off the charts.
That night, we all got to see it live. And it’s a good thing because we may never see a player like him again.

That was a fun game to watch live despite the beatdown. Happy to at least been able to see Jokic play live as that’s something you can’t fully grasp from the TV.