Nikola Jokic IMAGN 03262026
Nikola Jokic’s ‘fake’ assists are driving NBA fans crazy originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The stats will tell you that Nikola Jokic recorded one of the most outrageous stat lines in NBA history on Wednesday night.
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NBA fans will tell you that his numbers are being artificially inflated.
Officially, Jokic nearly had a 20-20-20 triple-double for the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday. The three-time MVP scored 23 points, hauled in 21 rebounds and dished out 19 assists against only one turnover as the Nuggets defeated the Dallas Mavericks, 142-135.
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However, fans are taking exception to a compilation of those assists from Denver. They show Jokic passing the ball to a teammate — mostly Jamal Murray — who then takes three dribbles into a made shot. Jokic is credited with an assist by the home scoring.
One quoted post that received 238,000 impressions on X recalled an assist Jokic picked up in a home game against the Charlotte Hornets, in which he rebounds the ball and passes to Will Barton.
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Barton then takes six dribbles up the length of the floor before laying the ball in.
The NBA Video Rulebook explains that “an assist is credited to the player tossing the last pass leading directly to a made field goal, but only if the player scoring the goal demonstrates an immediate reaction toward the basket after receiving the pass.”
It is true that Jokic — averaging a league-best 10.8 assists per game this season — most often is the Nuggets player making that final pass to Murray, or Cameron Johnson or any other of Denver’s scoring guards.
But a case can be made that some assists Jokic picks up are not the result of an immediate intention from his teammate to score the basketball.
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There is no doubting that Jokic is a generational passer, especially for someone his height. Yet the debate will continue to rage over how “fair” his numbers are.