Nikola Jokic has had an even greater impact on the Denver Nuggets than usual in the 2025 NBA playoffs.
The Nuggets fired manager Michael Malone shortly before the postseason, with assistant David Adelman replacing him.
And Adelman appears to be doing a great job, and Jokic has also stepped up while leading his team to a 7-game series victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
The three most valuable players have often taken on coaching roles during previous playoff timeouts, and now teammate Christian Brown has revealed what he’s talking about.
From the outside, it appears that Jokic is screaming at his teammate in frustration. But Braun said it was usually more constructive than that.
Another misconception is that the Serbs – the most aggressive mind of all time – offer advice on when the team has the ball.
Brown acknowledged that Jokic actually provides defensive feedback in most cases.
“I think that’s him. That’s the person he’s always been, that’s the person he wants to be. The most important thing is, he wants to be a vocalist.
“Obviously, he may have the best heart in basketball, but he definitely has the best heart on our bench. So when he talks, people are listening. That’s him. He wants to win.
“It’s hard to understand in many cases when he screams and says things to you, but he means that, he has a passion for it. He’s not telling you to say anything.
“In many cases, it’s not motivation. ‘We need to do this, we need to protect it like this.’ Many of them are defensive and not offensive.
“His heart is great, and he wants to win. That’s who he wants to be. He wants to be a vocalist.
Brown delivers a more flashy performance than Game 1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He scored just 11 points.
But the impact on the 24-year-old team is far beyond his score, as evidenced by his astounding 13 rebounds.
Only Jokic (22) and Aaron Gordon (14) had more boards than the 6-foot, 5-inch shooting guard as the Nuggets exploited the Thunder’s biggest weakness.
Perhaps Brown’s most important job in this series is to slow down Shy Gilgauss Alexander. The Canadians scored 40 points in Game 1, so there is clearly an improvement in that regard.