The Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic and the L.A. Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard are both otherworldly basketball superstars who find success in almost entirely different ways. Jokic is the greatest point center of all time, the dominant hub of his team’s offense as a playmaker and post scorer. Leonard, meanwhile, simply just makes tough shots. It doesn’t matter where he’s on the court. If he’s in a zone, the ball is probably going through the net.
But if Jokic and Leonard had one trait in common, it’d be how utterly stoic they can seem while playing. No matter the context, Jokic and Leonard never get too high or too low, and that’s really what makes them so special.
Nowhere was there a better example of this than Aaron Gordon’s historic buzzer-beater Nuggets dunk, which tied up Denver’s first-round series with the Clippers at 2-2 on Saturday night. After replays confirmed that Gordon got his dunk off in time, a hilarious side-by-side from TNT showed Jokic and Leonard barely reacting to the news while sitting on their respective teams’ benches.
If you just watched Jokic and Leonard here and had no other context for this incredible moment, you probably wouldn’t have been able to tell who won. And funnily enough, I’m sure that’s how both stars would like it:
TNT OT feeds from the moment that the game winner was called good pic.twitter.com/Cp8d7T4OBT
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) April 27, 2025
The Nuggets and Clippers are effectively going through a best-of-three series this week to determine who will advance to play the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round. Both teams should feel supremely confident that they have leaders like Jokic and Leonard who won’t let their emotions get the best of them at all costs.
Yes, even if that means both will barely react to one of the most stunning moments in NBA playoff history.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Nikola Jokic and Kawhi Leonard had equal stoic reactions to Aaron Gordon’s Nuggets dunk
The Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic and the L.A. Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard are both otherworldly basketball superstars who find success in almost entirely different ways. Jokic is the greatest point center of all time, the dominant hub of his team’s offense as a playmaker and post scorer. Leonard, meanwhile, simply just makes tough shots. It doesn’t matter where he’s on the court. If he’s in a zone, the ball is probably going through the net.
But if Jokic and Leonard had one trait in common, it’d be how utterly stoic they can seem while playing. No matter the context, Jokic and Leonard never get too high or too low, and that’s really what makes them so special.
Nowhere was there a better example of this than Aaron Gordon’s historic buzzer-beater Nuggets dunk, which tied up Denver’s first-round series with the Clippers at 2-2 on Saturday night. After replays confirmed that Gordon got his dunk off in time, a hilarious side-by-side from TNT showed Jokic and Leonard barely reacting to the news while sitting on their respective teams’ benches.
If you just watched Jokic and Leonard here and had no other context for this incredible moment, you probably wouldn’t have been able to tell who won. And funnily enough, I’m sure that’s how both stars would like it:
TNT OT feeds from the moment that the game winner was called good pic.twitter.com/Cp8d7T4OBT
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) April 27, 2025
The Nuggets and Clippers are effectively going through a best-of-three series this week to determine who will advance to play the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round. Both teams should feel supremely confident that they have leaders like Jokic and Leonard who won’t let their emotions get the best of them at all costs.
Yes, even if that means both will barely react to one of the most stunning moments in NBA playoff history.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Nikola Jokic and Kawhi Leonard had equal stoic reactions to Aaron Gordon’s Nuggets dunk
