They're here. After falling short multiple times, the Denver Nuggets have finally made it to the NBA Finals. The top-seeded squad has been a juggernaut throughout the entire playoffs, defeating the Kevin Durant-Devin Booker Suns in 5 and sweeping the Lakers. Of course, the biggest part of their Finals run is Nikola Jokic, the Serbian monster dominating their opponents. Much has been made about Jokic's on-court achievements, and for good reason. However, there's another underrated part of Jokic's impact on the Nuggets: his leadership, per Denver assistant Ryan Saunders in his interview with Chris Hine.
Nuggets' Ryan Saunders: “You can’t help but fall in line in how he (Nikola Jokic) approaches it because any time he’s around in the building you want to work hard for him, and he wants to work hard for everyone else involved. He leads by example in so many ways. In everything he does, he talks about just wanting to be a great teammate, which is one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen in sports.”
Jokic is the perfect example of a leader that leads by example. He is easily one of the most dominant players to step foot in the NBA. His ability to create shots for himself is amazing, and he could easily win games by himself. However, the Nuggets star is insistent on making the right play every time. When Jokic has a good shot, he finds a better one. That trickles down to every man on the roster.
The Nuggets now await their opponents in the NBA Finals, with the Heat trying to close out the Celtics at home. All season long, Denver has somehow flown under the radar despite being a top seed. Now, they have a chance to prove all of their doubters wrong. We'll if Jokic can continue his dominance in the playoffs.
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