By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
Nikola Jokic remains one of basketball’s most effective low-post players, but he questions whether future generations will have much reason to follow his example.
After recording 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists in three quarters of Denver’s 128–109 win over Toronto, the Serbian center argued that the way interior defense is officiated makes playing close to the basket increasingly exhausting.
“I think defenders on the low post, officials are letting them do much more, be much more physical, much more pushing, much more grabbing than if you’re playing outside,” Jokic said.
Toronto used Scottie Barnes and Collin Murray-Boyles against him rather than relying primarily on a traditional center. For Jokic, those matchups reflect a league in which smaller defenders can offset a size disadvantage through contact.
“I think that’s why players are not willing to play in the low post anymore,” he explained. “Just because you’re gonna get fouled, and it’s never gonna get called, and you’re getting tired, tired, after possession.”
His prediction for the long-term future of that style was blunt.
“I think in probably the next five, 10 years, low post is not gonna even be really out there.”
Jokic nevertheless praised Barnes for his ability to pressure guards and defend big men, and made clear that he enjoys the physical battle himself.
“I like to wrestle,” he said. “I’m wrestling my brothers since I’m young. So I like to wrestle. I like to push and grab.”
Having already witnessed several shifts in playing styles during his NBA career, Jokic expects further changes rather than a fixed direction for the sport.
“Since I came here, I think basketball changed like four times,” he said. “I think in five years, it’s gonna change some way too.”
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