Jokic was asked on the Jaomile podcast last week to name the defenders who cause him the most problems. His answer covered the league’s usual bulk-and-length crowd and then widened into something less flattering for the rest of the Western Conference.
“Who guards me the best? Everybody!” the Denver Nuggets centre said, before working through the list.
“Ivica Zubac and Jusuf Nurkic, they’re chubby like me, so it’s hard for me to move them. Rudy Gobert. I know people say all kinds of things about him, but I think he’s a great defender. Jalen Duren from Detroit, Wendell Carter Jr., they’re smaller and tough to deal with. The entire Oklahoma City team… Victor Wembanyama.”
Six of the seven names are individual defenders. Only Oklahoma City are grouped as a collective.
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Speaking separately about the two Balkan centres, Jokic told the podcast that physicality was the deciding factor: “Zubac guards me really well, and so does Nurkic. I guess they’re just bulkier, so I can’t move them when we’re battling for position.”
The 2025 series still frames the answer
There is a specific reason a whole roster ended up on that list. In the 2025 Western Conference semi-finals, Oklahoma City beat Denver 4-3, closing out the series in Game 7 at Paycom Center on 18 May. The Thunder went on to win the franchise’s first title in Oklahoma City, defeating the Indiana Pacers 103-91 in Game 7 of the NBA Finals on 22 June 2025.
Across the series, Jokic was met with a rotating cast of defenders rather than a single stopper. That is the pattern he is now describing back: a team, not a man.
Defending champions who fell short of a repeat
The Thunder followed the title with the best regular-season record in the league in 2025-26, but did not defend the trophy. San Antonio eliminated Oklahoma City 111-103 in Game 7 of the 2026 Western Conference Finals, ending the champions’ run one round before the Finals. The New York Knicks beat the Spurs in the 2026 NBA Finals.
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Head coach Mark Daigneault and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander return to lead the roster into a new season with the same defensive template Jokic just referenced by name.
Season opens with a rematch
Jokic and Denver will not face Oklahoma City on opening night. The Thunder start the 2026-27 season on the road on Tuesday, 20 October, in a rematch of the Western Conference Finals against the San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center. Tip-off is at 8:30pm local time.
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