Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokić has shown throughout his illustrious career that he is among the best passing centers in NBA history. And he showed that off with a truly absurd half-court alley-oop inbound pass that you have to see to believe.
Jokić averaged 9.8 assists last season, something that is truly unheard of from a traditional big man.
He sees the floor perhaps better than anyone else in the NBA right now. And there is perhaps no better example of that than his alley-oop pass to teammate Aaron Gordon on Friday night.
Jokić went to inbound the ball after a Memphis Grizzlies foul call in the third quarter. Instead of passing the ball to a wide-open teammate in the backcourt, he proceeded to throw a baseball pass all the way down the court, which just so happened to hit Gordon perfectly in stride for an alley-oop dunk.
Nikola Jokić with an all-timer inbound pass. 🏀🔥🔥🔥pic.twitter.com/KAVZuVjSlD
— The Comeback (@thecomeback) October 28, 2023
That angle of the play perhaps doesn’t even do it justice. Another angle from the baseline better shows the degree of difficulty that went into the pass from Jokić.
Nikola Jokic making it look way too easy 🤯
Nuggets (-6) 👀 pic.twitter.com/SWvLV1pVE1
— NBABet (@nbabet) October 28, 2023
We’re just a few days into the NBA season. But there may not be a better pass than this all season from anyone, let alone a center like Jokić.
Fans took notice of the ridiculous highlight and praised his unreal passing ability on social media.
Nikola Jokic caught everyone sleeping and threw an insane alley-oop to Aaron Gordon for the dunk 🔥pic.twitter.com/zjrxQIvRrj
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 28, 2023
brb watching this Nikola Jokic pass on repeatpic.twitter.com/LxuDCLqMyK
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) October 28, 2023
Of all the INSANE things Nikola Jokic has ever done on the court, this might be the most insane. pic.twitter.com/A3K4dXUqpk
— SCOUTWITHBRYAN (@ScoutWithBryan) October 28, 2023
Nikola Jokic is just unreal 😂pic.twitter.com/XveuDV5EJm
— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) October 28, 2023
This pass is ridiculous 🤯🤯🤯
Is Nikola Jokic the best basketball player in the world right now? 👀pic.twitter.com/FrtLDpgAOj
— Beastbrook (@Beastbr00k0) October 28, 2023
Nikola Jokić and only Nikola Jokić pic.twitter.com/FOv2gHIbWq
— Katy Winge (@katywinge) October 28, 2023
If Jokić is making passes like this all season, you may as well write the Nuggets in as the Western Conference representative in the NBA Finals yet again this year.
It looks like there is no NBA Finals hangover for the Nuggets early on this season, as Denver was able to secure a 106-104 victory over Memphis to go to 2-0 on the season.
[The Comeback on Twitter, Photo Credit: NBA League Pass on YouTube TV]
