It feels like Nikola Jokic is doing something the NBA has never seen before as he tries to take the Denver Nuggets into the brutal Western Conference standings. After leading the Nuggets to their fourth straight victory against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday night, Jokic put his name in the record books for two bits of NBA history.
With time ticking down at the third quarter buzzer, Jokic attempted a nearly full-court heave to nothing but the net. The shot was Official play-by-play data recorded as 66 feetbut it's certainly longer than that. of the league The official website also has 66 feet. This is incorrect. Check out Jokic's shot from the opposite free throw line here to get the actual distance.
The free throw line is 18 feet, 10 inches from the nearest baseline. The length of the court is 94 feet, and Jokic raises it directly from the opposing free throw line. If Jokic was going absolutely head-on at the basket, it would have been 75 feet, and if the league had adapted to that, it feels like the ball would have had to travel an additional 5.5 feet laterally.
Jokic's shot looks like about 79 feet or so to me. Will the NBA adjust it?
After the Nuggets' win, the NBA put out a video of the 10 longest shots of the past decade. You can see that Jokic's shot is noticeably further away than some of the shots that precede it.
The longest shot in NBA history is Baron Davis' 89-foot heave in 2001. Our friends at Secret Base made a great video about it.
Wikipedia has the longest list of shots in NBA history. Jokic's shots deserve a spot on this list:
See Andre Drummond's 71-foot shot from 2016 again here. There's no way the shot could be 5 feet further back than Jokic's. Jokic's shot appears to have a long angle adjustment.
Will the NBA issue a fix and give Jokic the legs he deserves for that third-quarter buzzer-beater? We'll have to wait and see. The wild thing is that Longshot wasn't the only bit of King's history with victory.
Jokic finished the game with 35 points, 22 rebounds, and 17 assists in the win. Last time someone did a triple double with 35/20/15? We have to go back to Wilt Chamberlain in 1968. It's a pretty good company.
The MVP race between Jokic and Oklahoma City's Lightning superstar Shai Gilgas-Alexander isn't too phoney. It seems like they come and go every week.
Jokic is just a monster. Give this guy an extra leg on his heave. Because it was much longer than 66 feet.
