Inside The Nuggets

Nuggets' Nikola Jokic Cannot Be Quantified

The Denver Nuggets superstar is winning the "human vs. machine" battle.
Lincoln Hale|
Jan 30, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) in the second quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Ball Arena.
Jan 30, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) in the second quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Ball Arena. | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

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Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic has defied reality.

In 1950, mathematician, computer scientist, and cybernetics pioneer Norbert Wiener published The Human Use of Human Beings. In it, he warns of a not-too-distant time when “machines” have a “tremendous possibility of replacing human behavior.” 

“That we shall have to change many details of our mode of life in the face of the new machines is certain,” he foretold, “but these machines are secondary in all matters of value that concern us to the proper evaluation of human beings for their own sake and to their employment as human beings.” 

There is no machine, algorithm, or artificial intelligence that could have properly evaluated or predicted the kind of athlete Nikola Jokic would become. Will the world be overrun by AI at some point? Maybe. Could we be staring into the eyes of a grim, post-apocalyptic, dystopian future? Perhaps. But let me say this: Nothing will replace what happens by real humans on the hardwood. 

Nikola Jokic cannot be quantified

No amount of multi-layered, artificial, machine learning could have predicted that last night against the Boston Celtics, Nikola Jokic would get caught deep in the corner with the shot clock expiring, almost lose the ball, spin opposite the defender, fade away off the wrong foot, and sink a three-ball, which he now has over 1,000 of—plus over 20,000 points total in his career.

No algorithm can foresee a pass flying in between the outstretched arms of Domantas Sabonis while giving him a haircut in the process. Or the countless no-look, behind-the-back, over-the-head, and cross-court water polo assists he makes on a nightly basis. Only the Joker. And now he’s sitting on 6,000+ assists for his career. 

AI can surely calculate arc, speed, trajectory, and angles to anticipate where a Wilson game ball might end up after a shot but no machine can match the natural and innate wit, knack, and talent with which Denver’s big fella can rebound the ball and proceed to find a no look outlet, cut under to draw a foul, or simply tip it in. 9,000+ career rebounds and counting.

These mind-blowing—AI-confounding—stats put Jokic in ever more rarified air, or should I say rarified heir. He is now one of just four players in NBA history to have 20,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 6,000 assists, and 1,000 three pointers made (Scottie Pippen, LeBron James, and Russell Westbrook). Like it or not, the Joker currently holds the keys to the NBA kingdom, and his best basketball is still ahead of him. There seems to be no dip in his productivity. 

With Jokic also surpassing Oscar Robinson to claim second place on the all-time triple-double list—and likely passing Russell Westbrook by next season—there is no denying his dominance in the sport for the last decade. 

This isn’t the whole picture either. His greatness isn’t just measured in stats. AI can measure 29 different data points per player 60 times per second to analyze spatial, physical, and tactical elements of the NBA game in real time. Shot difficulty, player contributions, physical movement metrics, team strategies and tendencies, and so much more are all part of what the machines are doing to “improve” (wink, wink) the game.

Norbert Wiener was right on at least two accounts: (1) Machines are “replacing human behavior.” That’s a scary thought—though everyone with a brain and a brain-rotting social media account knows this intrinsically. But more importantly, he emphasized that (2) “these machines are secondary in all matters of value.”

Nothing in sports is more valuable than the human element of immeasurable greatness. And no one goes against the grain of predictability, popular patterns, and commonplace basketball more than Nikola Jokic. His greatness is unquantifiable. He’s changing the center position, and he’s changing the game itself, and no deep learning model can ever replace that. 

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Lincoln Hale
LINCOLN HALE

Lincoln Hale is in his first year covering the Denver Nuggets and NBA.

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