Isiah Thomas does not throw out praise lightly, especially when it comes to point guard play. That is what made his comments on the NBA on NBC land with so much weight. When the Hall of Famer started openly wondering whether Nikola Jokic might actually be a better passer than Magic Johnson, it stopped the conversation cold.
Thomas admitted his own disbelief in real time.
“He may be a better passer than Magic Johnson. I’m like, no way. No, no, no way. And the more you watch him, the more you see like, okay, he dime-ing like Magic. He’s giving it to guys with touch. He’s giving it on time, on target. The seams are right.”
“You know, his no-looks, his no-looks are damn near better than Magic’s, right? He catching it on the block and he took a no-look and threw it over to the corner. It went way over there. And the guy catches it right on, right in the shoe pocket. While he can score in the paint and receive the ball in the paint, he also receives it at the top of the key.”
“Most centers don’t get the ball at the top of the key. So while he is seven feet tall, he really is a six-one point guard.”
That is an outrageous sentence in NBA history, and yet it is no longer outrageous to hear it spoken out loud.
What separates Jokic from every other elite passer in the league is context. Magic was a 6-foot-9 point guard who controlled the game with pace and vision. Jokic is a seven-footer doing this while playing center. He catches the ball on the block, reads the floor, and fires a no-look pass to the weakside corner without even turning his head.
He also initiates offense from the top of the key, something most centers simply do not do. As Thomas put it, Jokic may be seven feet tall, but functionally, he is a point guard.
The numbers back up the eye test. Jokic is currently averaging 28.9 points, 12.0 rebounds, and 10.9 assists while shooting over 60% from the field and better than 43% from three. In the last four seasons, Jokic has averaged 9.8 assists per game, a figure that we thought was impossible for a center.
Over the last four seasons alone, Jokic has averaged 9.8 assists per game, a staggering figure for someone listed as a center.
His career assist average sits at 7.4, and it continues to rise as he reaches new heights.
Magic Johnson, of course, still owns the historical gold standard. His career average of 11.2 assists per game remains the highest in NBA history, and he led the league in assists four times. Magic’s greatness was built on controlling tempo, elevating teammates, and making everyone around him better, and Jokic unquestionably does the same. The difference is stylistic and positional. Magic orchestrated from the perimeter. Jokic conducts from everywhere.
This is where Thomas’ perspective matters. As one of the greatest point guards ever, he understands what real passing looks like beyond box scores. He sees how Jokic manipulates defenders, how he throws teammates open, and how his passes create advantages before the defense even realizes it is in trouble. That is not just a skill. That is instinct.
Is Jokic definitely a better passer than Magic Johnson? That argument may never have a clean answer. Magic’s resume and legacy are untouchable. But the fact that this comparison can now be made without sounding ridiculous speaks volumes about what Jokic has become.
In a league that has spent decades trying to find the next great point guard, the most revolutionary passer of this era might just be a center from Serbia rewriting what playmaking is supposed to look like.
