Nike releases first Nikola Jokic commercial, it’s simply hilarious
Jun 13, 2023, 4:43 AM
DENVER—On the night Nikola Jokic lifted the Denver Nuggets to their first-ever championship via a 94-89 win over the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Nike finally released a commercial for the two-time MVP.
The advertisement from the shoe giant was no joke, telling the story of the Joker’s career. It’s so perfectly Jokic, factual, true and with a lot of dry humor. And also of course he’s not even really in it, because that’s not who he is.
Congrats to the Joker and the @nuggets on a franchise-first NBA Championship. pic.twitter.com/Bp81FtWFEE
— Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) June 13, 2023
Jokic said weeks ago that winning a championship would be “nice.” And it’s also refreshing to hear an athlete just say all of this stuff, the winning, the great play, etc, it just makes him happy.
“The job is done, we can go home now,” Jokic said, before realizing the parade is Thursday and that he can’t go home.
Coming off back-to-back MVP seasons Jokic’s Finals MVP gave Denver their first-ever title in over 50 years of playing hoops. He’s undisputedly the best Nuggets player ever and maybe a signature shoe is coming soon. He certainly won’t care if he gets one or not, but his popularity is peaking, just like his play.
Jokic was the first player ever to score a 30-point triple-double with 20 or more rebounds in an NBA Finals game. He finished the five-game series as the MVP after playing 20 games with a 16-4 record in these playoffs, scoring 30 points per game on 55% shooting, 45% from deep with 13.5 rebounds and 9.5 helpers a night.
The Nuggets finished with the second-best playoff record since 2003, only passed by the 2018 Golden State Warriors.
It makes sense Nike, just like the NBA has here recently, would start to push who is easily the game’s best player as the 2023 season comes to an end. Now the question is just how good will Jokic rank all-time? This postseason was certainly kindling for a fiery conversation that’s coming sooner than you may think.
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