MEMPHIS, TN – JANUARY 28: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets speaks with the media after the game against the Memphis Grizzlies on January 28, 2019 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)
Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic did his best Jackie Moon impression against the New Orleans Pelicans
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is having a superb season, and he’ll be in the MVP conversation if James Harden ever stops averaging 35 points per game. Jokic’s triple-double (20 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists) helped his team overcome the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night, and he also made news when Nuggets coach Michael Malone compared a crucial play of the game featuring his big man to the Jackie Moon character in the Will Ferrell movie “Semi-Pro”.
“The one I love best was, we get the ball in bounds with a full clock,” Malone said. “Gary Harris fed Jokic. He didn’t like it and kicked it out. He was like Will Ferrell for the Flint Tropics. He wasn’t ready for it, so he kept on kicking it out.”
Here’s the hilarious clip with the coach combined with the sequence from the movie.
The sequence came at a critical time of the game that helped Denver secure victory. The Nuggets are a dark horse contender this season, and Jokic is the main reason for that. He’s drawn comparisons to Arvydas Sabonis, but I would argue that he is even more skilled than the Lithuanian basketball star.
Where the Nuggets end up in the playoff seedings will likely determine how far they can go, and the Western Conference just got a lot more interesting with the trade of Kristaps Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks and the possibility of Anthony Davis getting shipped to the Los Angeles Lakers. Davis didn’t play in the game against the Nuggets due to injury. That should become a regularity as the season lingers on due to his trade demand. The Pelicans can’t get anything for him if he sustains a serious injury.
Malone made it clear after the game that Jokic is now their closer, and the Nuggets are riding a lot of momentum after their fourth straight win and stand at second in the Western Conference standings just one game behind the Golden State Warriors.
Semi-Pro may not have been that brilliant of a movie, but it certainly made an impression on one the brightest stars in the NBA and his head coach.