Nikola Jokic's unreal production was hardly the only history he made while leading the Denver Nuggets to a four-game sweep of LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals. Just after punching the Nuggets' first ever trip to the NBA Finals, though, Jokic was already done reveling in he and his teammates' accomplishment.
Asked Saturday if he'd been celebrating Denver winning the West since dispatching of the Lakers in Game 4, Jokic's ultra-competitive nonchalance was on full display.
“No, to be honest,” Jokic said, per Darren McKee of 104.3 The Fan. “When we win, the win was nice, and like half an hour after that we were just like, ‘Okay.' I thought it would be much bigger feeling to be honest.”
Jokic and the Nuggets have been fighting to win the West for years. They won their first playoff series in 2019, then advanced to the Western Conference Finals a year later in the Orlando bubble. Injuries to Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. marred Denver's path toward real contention in 2020-21 and 2021-22, though, Jokic winning back-to-back MVPs with an undermanned supporting cast while waiting for his star teammates to recover.
Murray and Porter are fully healthy now, playing at their peaks. Aaron Gordon has never made a bigger impact with the Nuggets, while key offseason additions of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown fortified the team's long-exploitable defense.
Denver's goal this season was never just winning the West. Rest assured that Jokic is bound to feel much differently after the Nuggets take the title.