Luật mới của NBA khiến Jokic tuyên bố bỏ giải: ‘Tôi không thể chơi kiểu này nữa’

The Denver Nuggets star should benefit from the NBA’s latest rule change

Dec 28, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) reacts in the fourth quarter against the Detroit Pistons at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Denver Nuggets superstar center Nikola Jokic has continued to cement himself as the best player in the NBA over the past five years. Jokic has finished in the top two in MVP voting in each of the past five seasons, but the Serbian big man is an unconventional superstar.

Of course, the biggest nuance about Jokic that people constantly talk about is how he does not seem too passionate about his NBA career. Jokic is arguably one of the 20 greatest players the NBA has ever seen, and he couldn’t care less.

May 18, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) runs down the court against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second quarter during game seven of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

A pro for the Nuggets having a superstar with Jokic’s mindset, though, is that he strictly cares about winning and does not think twice about his stats, despite being one of the best statistical players ever.

Since Jokic does not care about what numbers fill his stat sheet, he is consistently hurting his shooting percentage by taking full-court heaves at the end of quarters. However, the newest NBA rule will change that.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported on Wednesday that the NBA is implementing a new rule where “unsuccessful end-of-period heaves will now be recorded as a missed field-goal attempt for the team, not the player… Those long heaves will no longer impact an individual player’s percentages.”

A NIKOLA JOKIĆ MASTERCLASS 🔥🃏

▪️ 39 PTS
▪️ 10 REB
▪️ 4 AST
▪️ 3 STL

Serbia improves to 3-0 in @EuroBasket group play! pic.twitter.com/mwPG6aglVW

— NBA (@NBA) August 30, 2025

Jokic has been the NBA’s biggest heaver, leading the league with 22 end-of-period heaves last season. Jokic’s 22 heave attempts set the NBA record for most in a season, and the Nuggets superstar was able to knock down two of them.

Including his 22 heaves, Jokic shot 57.6% from the field and 41.7% from three-point range on the season. Without those heaves, however, Jokic would have shot 58.4% from the field and 44% from beyond the arc, making his shooting numbers even more incredible.

The NBA is making a big change, and it might impact Nikola Jokic more than anyone else.

The league announced that end-of-period heaves will now be recorded only as a missed FG for the team – not for the player, per Shams.

How would this impact stats?

With Jonas Valančiūnas in town, Denver finally has a legitimate back up big to complement Nikola Jokic (plus DaRon Holmes II making his debut)

The Nuggets’ front court depth is so, so much better heading into this season pic.twitter.com/TgpnDehQwP

— Point Made Basketball (@pointmadebball) September 9, 2025

There are a handful of NBA stars who have turned down the opportunity to take an end-of-period heave because they did not want it to reflect on their shooting percentages, but Jokic has never been afraid of taking the slim chance at an extra three points for his team.

Last season, Jokic was one of just three players who attempted ten or more heaves, as Mikal Bridges (12) and Anthony Edwards (10) were the next closest on the list.

Of course, Jokic does not care about his stats, so he will not care about this rule change as much, but there are some NBA stars out there who will certainly start taking these long shots more often.