Nikola Jokic has established himself as one of the best basketball players on the planet. He’s also played his entire 11-year NBA career with the same team, the Denver Nuggets. The three-time NBA MVP wasn’t always regarded as a can’t miss talent though. Jokic was drafted with the No. 41 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
His basketball knowledge, mixed with his all-round abilities, has turned the 31-year-old, All-NBA center into one of the toughest players to guard in the entire league. While at times, it’s seemed that he’s simply unstoppable, Jokic himself has admitted there’s certain players he doesn’t love seeing on the other side of the floor.
Nikola Jokic Reveals His Biggest Defensive Challenge
Some of Jokic’s center opposition, no matter the triple-double numbers the Serbian powerhouse puts up, apparently give him fits. During an appearance this week on the “Jao Mile Podcast”, Jokic revealed the NBA players who give him the hardest time on the defensive end.
“(Ivica) Zubac guards me very well, and (Jusuf) Nurkic too. I guess we are bit chubby, so when we’re battling physically, I can’t really move them, uh, that much,” Jokic said.
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
Mile Ilic is a former professional Serbian basketball player who’s turned to podcasting in his post-playing career. The exclusive conversation took place in the duo’s native language of Serbian. The podcast is available on YouTube and anywhere you can find podcasts, however, the above clip was posted to social media by Basketball Sphere (@BSphere_) on X. Translations from Serbian to English were provided in the captioning on the video. Video credit also goes to Ilic himself on X (@mileilic).
Jokic went on to list a handful of players who he feels guard him well. Ironically, which he also alludes to, he’s had monster performances against seemingly all of them.
“Rudy Gobert: I know people have all kinds of opinions about him, but Rudy is a really good defender. He showed it in the last playoffs. Even though I’ve had some good games against him, I really think he’s a good defender. Jalen Duren from Detroit, he’s kind of smaller and tough to deal with. Wendell Carter Jr. is another one, smaller but tough to deal with. The entire Oklahoma City team… Wemby, Victor,” Jokic said.
Jokic Dominates Entire NBA Statistically
Jokic appears to be being nice, and modest. Assuredly there are better and worse defensive centers in the NBA. Jokic however, the walking triple-double, has dominated them all at some point in his career. Jokic paid a compliment to Gobert, the four-time Defensive Player of the Year. However, according to Basketball Reference, Jokic has averaged 22.2 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game in the 56 total games he’s played against Gobert. Those totals include 32 regular season games as well as 24 playoff games.
Jokic averaged 27.7 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 10.7 assists per game last season. He’s also averaged a triple-double in back-to-back seasons now as well. He can talk about players who are hard to push around because they possess similar size as him, but the recipe for stopping Jokic on a basketball court hasn’t been created as of 2026.
As per FanDuel Sportsbook, Jokic sits as the third-favorite to win the NBA MVP in 2026-27 (plus-600). He trails only Victor Wembanyama (plus-200), and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (plus-350). Jokic has won or finished runner-up in MVP voting in six consecutive seasons.
Nikola Jokic Reveals NBA Player Who’s His Worst Defensive Matchup