On the anniversary of his 30th trip around the sun, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic kindly requests: No birthday gifts. Please.
Why?
“I don’t like my birthday,” Jokic said Wednesday. “Getting older.”
The Nuggets celebrated the greatest athlete we’ve ever seen wear a Denver uniform with cupcakes and a spirited rendition of “Happy Birthday.”
“Makes me feel sad,” Jokic said.
Why the sad face? I had to know.
“Are you afraid of being old and washed-up?” I asked Jokic.
Turning 30 is nothing. I told him: Wait until you’re 67 years old, like me.
And without missing a beat, Jokic replied: “Somebody needs to call an ambulance.”
While Jokic took great pleasure in sticking a needle in my old hide, I’m here to tell gladly tell all of you:
The fears about the Nuggets’ championship window closing are greatly exaggerated.
Jokic is just getting warmed up.
He has already scored 15,597 points in his NBA career.
With apologies to Michael Jordan and all due respect to LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the greatest player who ever lived. And after age 30, Abdul-Jabber scored an astonishing 18,149 points and won five of his six championships.
This is not to suggest Joker can match those amazing feats, but Abdul-Jabbar is an indication of what’s possible for a Hall of Fame center that ages gracefully.
During his recent visit to San Francisco for the All-Star Game, Jokic declared his desire to become to the Nuggets what Steph Curry has been to the Warriors. Although Curry turns 37 next month, he’s still unquestionably among the top 10 players in the league.
At 30, Jokic is averaging 29.8 points (a career high), 12.6 rebounds (second-best in his decade-long NBA stint) and 10.2 assists (also a career high).
Joker is not getting older. He’s getting better.
“Like wine,” he quipped.
How long can Jokic keep playing at this level?
Well, I relayed a memory to Denver coach Michael Malone of watching the Nuggets advance to the Western Conference Finals in 1984, only to get blown off the court by the Los Angeles Lakers in five games.
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And the best player on that court?
It was often 37-year-old Abdul-Jabbar, proving a middle-age man could be at the top of his profession, even way back in ‘84.
Malone listened to my old geezer story, looked me in the eye, and asked: “You’re 84?”
Thanks a lot, coach. But I don’t look a day over 70.
To Malone’s point, however, I miss-remembered a fact about that Western Conference finals, when Abdul-Jabbar averaged 20 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists against the Nuggets.
The year of that Denver short trip to the Western Conference finals was actually 1985. Not ‘84.
My bad. Chalk it up to a senior moment.
Malone has reason to believe Jokic can be as dominant in his 30s as Abdul-Jabbar was back in the day.
“The reason I think he could be a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at 37 and still dominating is because your mind and your skill level are not going to deteriorate,” Malone said. “He’s not driving down the lane and dunking on people every night. I think that bodes well for (Jokic’s) longevity.”
At age 30, Joker is a man in full and all “growns” up.
And, oh my, the things he has done and the places he has gone since arriving in Denver a decade ago from Serbia with more baby fat than game.
While remaining a kid at heart, Jokic has matured into a loving husband to Natalija, the proud father of two beautiful children and the NBA’s three-time most valuable player.
Although already in his 10th pro season, there can be another decade of high-level basketball left in Joker, if he so desires.
His prime is far from over. “The way (Jokic) dominates the game is with intelligence and skill, not athleticism,” Malone said.
So I could see not one, not two, but maybe even three more MVP awards in Jokic’s future.
After a start to this NBA season he knew “was going to be a little bumpy,” Jokic insists his goal with this Nuggets team is “to win a championship.”
Like fine Grasac wine from his beloved homeland, Jokic is indeed getting better with age.
And he swears to have no fear of being over-the-hill anytime soon.
“I’m going to be young in my mind,” Jokic said.
When you think about it, isn’t that the real trick to beating Father Time for as long as is humanly possible?
So on the occasion of his 30th birthday, let’s raise a toast to another decade of our little Joker being a kid at heart in the center of the NBA universe.
