After O Neal, another giant defeated the entire league and redefined the dominance of the center.

In the long history of basketball, there are always some players who redefine the connotation of their positions in a subversive way. When Shaquille O'Neal used bulldozer-like power to force the league to use the "shark-cutting tactics", people thought that the dominance of the giant must be based on absolute physical crushing. However, twenty years later, a second-round pick from Serbia used the completely opposite method to open a path of rebirth for the traditional center in the era of small ball dominated by three-pointers and fast attacks. The story of Nikola Jokic is a modern fable about how wisdom overcomes prejudice and how technology breaks the rules. On the 2014 draft night, when ESPN's footage had already turned to a lottery pick, 19-year-old Jokic was sitting at his home in Serbia watching horse racing. This boy with overweight and slow movement was selected by the Nuggets in the 41st pick, and was even teased by the commentator as a "player walking out of the bar". But the Nuggets coaching staff saw the uninhibited jade under the appearance: his passers who seemed to be equipped with GPS could find a millimeter-level gap in the crowd; his control over the rhythm of the game was like an experienced commander. The game against the Bucks in 2018 became a turning point. He completed a triple-double in 14 minutes and 33 seconds, setting a new record in history. At that moment, the basketball world suddenly realized that this fat man, who was once ridiculed as an "amateur", was subverting his cognition with his talent from another dimension. 2021-2024 has a MVP for three consecutive years, a maximum salary of 264 million in 5 years, and a 7 All-Star. Behind these honors is a class leap completed by a second-round pick in seven years.

When the traditional center is still obsessed with getting on the basket, Jokic has expanded the center's battlefield to the entire half. In March 2025, he scored 31 points, 21 rebounds and 22 assists, becoming the first "30+20+20" in history; a month later, against the Timberwolves, 61 points broke the scoring record. But what really makes the opponent desperate is his tactical influence like a point guard: he averaged 9 assists per game in the past five years, increasing the Nuggets' open shooting opportunities by 15%. This "system engine" attribute is unprecedented in the history of centers. His arsenal combines tradition and modernity: Jabbar praised the "Modern Hooker" hit a record of 68%, and the deterrence of 38.5% outside the three-point line opens up the space, while the evolution of the defensive end from "coupling" to averaging 1.5 steals per game has shown amazing adaptability. ESPN analyst Lovie sighed: "His ability to read the game is like opening the opponent's tactical manual in advance. "

The 2023 finals are Jokic's coronation. Facing the Heat, he averaged 30.2 points, 14 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game, and declared the new king ascended the throne with his first game record of 14 assists. In the 2024-25 season, he pushed his dominance to a new peak: a triple-double average of 26.8 points, 12.7 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game in the regular season, with an efficiency of 33.1 third in history; he scored 367 points, 178 rebounds and 112 assists in 14 games in the playoffs, becoming the scoring king + rebounding king + assist king + steal king in the first two rounds. Although the Nuggets stopped in the semi-finals due to injury, he surpassed Chamberlain 21 playoff triple-double, writing a new history of center. Unlike O'Neal's passion, Jokic's rule carries an Eastern subtlety. He hugged his teammates calmly when he won the championship, and took the initiative to take responsibility after losing. This "team first" philosophy has made his influence surpass the data. As basketball experts said: "The Nuggets without Jokic may only be the eighth place in the West; and the Thunder without Alexander are still a regular player in the playoffs. "

When O'Neal used the violence of dunking rebounds to force the league to modify the rules, Jokic was reconstructing the rules with passes and three-pointers. The former is the physical crush of "breaking skill with force", and the latter is the tactical dimensionality reduction of "breaking skill with skill with force". The data is very contrasting: O'Neal's career shooting percentage is 58.2%, while Jokic averaged 9 assists per game with a real shooting percentage of 58.3%. In terms of honor, the gap between 1 and 4 championships is objectively present, but Jokic's advanced data (PER, RPM) has ranked among the top three centers in history, and his ability to shape the team system is unprecedented. In this era when traditional centers are on the verge of extinction, Jokic proves that the giants do not need to succumb to the trend of the times. He is like a basketball philosopher, deconstructing defense with passes and reshaping space with wisdom, allowing the No. 5 position to evolve from "forbidden zone coolie" to "court brain". As the data from Cleaning the Glass revealed: When Jokic was on the court, the Nuggets netted 12.3 points per 100 rounds, and this dominance is more destructive than a dunk. The charm of

The charm of basketball lies in the possibility of breaking the rules. When O'Neal's violent aesthetic becomes a footnote to history, Jokic proves in another way that greatness is never limited to form - whether it is the roar that breaks the basket or the wonderful transmission that gently pulls his fingertips, as long as the opponent can surrender, it is the kingly wind of this era. Perhaps as he said: "I don't want to be the next person, I just want to be the first Jokic." And this fat man who is knocking on the door of the top five centers in history is writing his own legendary chapter.