If Nikola Jokic had a nickel for every time a middle-aged man challenged him to a game of basketball tug-of-war during a playoff series, he would have two nickels.
With 34 seconds remaining in a tense series opener between the Nuggets and Clippers, Jokic tried to seize the ball from the Los Angeles sideline after a Kawhi Leonard turnover, his goal being to inbound it immediately — only to encounter resistance from none other than Clippers lead assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy.
Van Gundy joined forces with the team’s longtime trainer, Jasen Powell, to prevent Jokic from yanking the ball away in a bizarre interruption of Denver’s eventual Game 1 win. The visiting bench wasn’t issued a delay-of-game, despite Jokic’s protests.
“I mean, my guys have gotta step it up. If we’re allowed to just grab the ball and stop plays from happening and it’s not a delay of game, what have we been doing all year?” Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said. “I was an assistant, so what was I doing all year? So if that is OK to do, and I guess that’s OK, then I guess we should start doing it. I’ve never seen that before, to be honest.”
Van Gundy, 63, joined Ty Lue’s staff in Los Angeles this season after being laid off by ESPN, where he was the network’s lead NBA color commentator for more than a decade. He has been a head coach for the Knicks, Rockets and Team USA.
“He looked pretty good. I mean, he held his ground,” Nuggets guard Christian Braun said. “Held onto the ball pretty well. It’s pretty embarrassing for Jok. But he was in the weight room afterward, so that’s good.”
Turns out, Jokic was using that time to brainstorm an excuse for why he couldn’t overpower Van Gundy and Powell
“Two against one,” he said after the 112-110 win.
Jokic has made it one of his career-long missions to catch opposing defenses sleeping at a lull in the action. After dead balls, he often urges referees to hand it over to him as quickly as possible so he can rush the ball up the floor, at minimum preventing the defense from getting set. It’s what caused Thunder coach Mark Daigneault to find a loophole in the NBA rulebook in March, implementing a “permanent sub” concept against Denver that was promptly shut down by the officials.
In this instance, Jokic had an especially pressing motivation to go fast. The Nuggets were down 96-95 in the last minute, and the Clippers were considering whether to use their last challenge — it was unclear if the ball had been last touched by Leonard or Jamal Murray.
“I didn’t see it. I didn’t see it. … He did what he needed to do to try to get the ball in fast,” Lue said. “But that’s smart. If a team has a chance to challenge, you want to get the ball in quickly. Tell our guys to do the same thing. But he is the best at it.”
In the end, the deceleration of play ironically favored Denver. Lue used the challenge, and the call was upheld.
“It didn’t have any impact on the game, so it is what it is,” Adelman said. “I’m sure the league will look at it.”
Jokic didn’t seem as amused by the situation as Adelman and Braun. The three-time MVP center alluded to his 2023 playoff incident with Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia, who famously flailed backward in a theatrical display after Jokic similarly tried to take the ball from him. The only difference was that Ishbia was technically a fan watching from a courtside seat, whereas Van Gundy and Powell are officially team personnel. Jokic was issued a technical foul for the Ishbia incident.
“It seems like it’s part of basketball nowadays,” Jokic said Saturday. “I think definitely, it’s not supposed to happen. Because I think the NBA wants to make a quick-speed game. Inbound the ball quicker. Because that was definitely emphasized before the season. They said that sometimes when I (tie) my shoes and this and that, and steal a couple of seconds, they said that I cannot do that anymore. But it seems like they can do it.”
The Nuggets took a 98-96 lead on the ensuing possession, setting up overtime. Jokic finished Game 1 with 29 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists. But the Nuggets were held to 16 fast-break points. They were one of the best running teams in the NBA this season, leading Lue to open his pregame news conference by saying — fittingly, it turned out — that his biggest emphasis throughout the last week was transition defense.
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But did the Nuggets know that Van Gundy had that kind of physical toughness in him?
“Yeah,” Adelman said, scoffing. “He’s a pretty competitive guy, obviously. And an amazing coach. That’s what this series is going to be.”
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