Nikola Zhokic has a significant share of elite moments on the biggest stage, but he prefers to play weaker opponents for personal reasons.
As the best player in the world, the quality of his opponents doesn’t seem to be much of an important factor for Nicola Djokic.
Last season, he averaged 29.6 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists, making him the first player in NBA history to finish in the top three in all three major categories.
Despite his control over all 29 other teams, he enjoys the chances that the Denver Nuggets will get when they can play certain opponents.
Some players like to go back to their hometown, others like to play against former teams, and others enjoy playing against rivals.
The Washington Wizards of Jokic and Nuggets do not meet any of these criteria, but he still enjoys the chance to play them.
“Every time I go to Washington, D.C., there are definitely performances that stand out for me,” teammate Payton Watson retorted. “They have a Serb population there and as soon as they step into the arena with the Joker they’re hooked as if we were our home team.”
Although there are not a majority of Serbian immigrants in Washington, it appears that there is at least a large portion of Serbians in the area, and they all sound like basketball fans.
“It’s always me that he can turn it over and decide, ‘We’re going to get 50 tonight because we have a lot of fans here,” Watson added. “When he does that, it’s pretty crazy.”
Since Jokic entered the league in 2015, Wizard has only won one playoff series, so when he plays Washington, he does dominate, but it helps him play against weaker opponents.
As the Wizard is the Eastern Conference team, there are very few meetings between the Nuggets and the Wizards.
However, Jokic makes the most of his chances. Throughout his career he has dominated Washington against all 29 opponents.
Of all his opponents, he averages on average (25.9), second rebound (12.1), and highest field goal percentage, 62.2% compared to the second-placed net at 59.7%.
6.8 assists per game against the Wizard are actually down from his career average of 7.2, as he is trying to score when he plays Washington.
He averaged 16 field goals per game against Washington, with only four Eastern Conference teams above that mark: 16.1 FGA against the Knicks and Hornets, 17.1 Bucks and 17.7 against the Pacers.
It is worth noting that Indianapolis, New York and Milwaukee all have a larger group of Serbs than DC, and the Hornets are one of the more unusual teams than Wizards throughout Jokic’s career.