Centurion

“I appreciate how we played. That’s what I appreciate. But all the, let’s say… achievements, awards, contracts, or whatever, it’s just — I don’t want to say coming naturally — but you don’t chase it. It’s really nice. I think it’s going to be the best when you finish [your] career and just look behind you and see what you did.”

– Nikola Jokic

For hundreds of years, in one of the world’s most successful empires, armies who went into battle were grouped into units of 100 legionnaires, that group called a century. Their senior-most, most-experienced, and most-respected leader, the one who guided them into their moment-to-moment strategies, was called… Centurion. While he might eventually achieve fortune and fame because of his rank, his utmost priority and the proof of his value came from how he led and gave to his men.

The speed with which Nikola Jokic, the Denver Nuggets experienced and respected leader reached his 100th triple double the other night was a little staggering, coming in only his 582nd career game, second-fastest to the great Oscar Robertson. While the Joker has ramped up his yearly triple double averages, The Big O shot out of the gates like a comet, racking up an astounding 41 in his second year in the NBA. Nikola’s career looks more like a ski ramp, going 0-6-10-12-13-16-19-and currently 24 in his eight seasons in the league.

Like Robertson, Jokic could care less about the stat itself – since Robertson played before it was even a commonly recognized stat of importance – seemingly leading the league in near misses, and never seeking out the point, pass, or rebound that might put him over the edge. Like a Centurion, Jokic is just as lethal off the court with his commentary on those who might think he has a single care about how he has come to these astounding numbers. This ascendant career.

It is true that there may just be a stat that Jokic is chasing, and if Perk had been able to look up from his incessant rooting around for hot takes, he’d have seen it staring him dead in the face. Joker wants a W. He wants all the W’s, but most especially the W’s that come in the playoffs. Because in the end, Jokic simply wants to win it all. Whether his numbers are zeroes or doubles or triples is immaterial.

The other trend showing Joker’s true motives of his lengthiest campaign yet is his ruthless efficiency. While he has been an advanced stat god of the highest order since he first took the court, Jokic has been simply otherworldly in how little he now uses to achieve those goals. With a career-high true shooting percentage of .703, Jokic may see his best WinShares season yet, with a WS/48 of .319 this season, another career-high. This vaults him into fourth place all-time in the category, behind MJ, the Admiral, and Wilt.

Hearkening back to that Roman army comparison, the thing that made the empire such a long standing powerhouse was the power and might of their forces going into battle, as evidenced by their advanced tactics and advanced leaders. Leaders who led a disciplined fight with only the win in their sights, no matter how much glory came their way in particular.

And that’s where Jokic’s ability to raise all boats is particularly shown in his discipline in “not fighting the game” as coach Michael Malone so aptly stated about the way he approaches each battle. Even each engagement. He probes and prods until something has to be given, then he takes it. If you want that to be 50 points instead of 10/11/14. more power to you. He will simply feed at whichever trough you so happen to leave open, and at an efficiency maybe never before seen.

So yes, maybe this Centurion hasn’t led a hundred men into battle yet (though I was shocked to learn it was 80), but he’s notched that hundreth triple-double simply by taking whichever piece of the puzzle you are willing to concede. Will that win he, and more importantly to him, his teammates and organization, a championship this season? It very well might. But even if it doesn’t, he’s going to keep taking every bit of the puzzle you’ll give he and his men in their quest to get that ring. One by one, he’ll lift them up by the hundreds.