It turned out Nikola Jokic had one more assist in him Thursday night. After climbing to the top of the NBA’s career assists chart among centers, Jokic credited his former coach at Serbia’s Mega Basket, Dejan “Deki” Milojevic, for his now-famous approach to the game. “I always say the assist makes two people happy,” Jokic said after passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Denver’s 126-115 win over Orlando at Ball Arena. “My coach, Deki Milojevic, he always said that.” Milojevic died of a heart attack on Jan. 17, 2024, while he was an assistant coach with the Golden State Warriors. Jokic still often practices, warms up and cools down in a shirt that reads “Brate,” which loosely translates to “brother,” and features a heart enclosing Milojevic’s initials. While Jokic climbed from reserve to starter to All-Star to Most Valuable Player to NBA champion and Finals MVP, the approach he borrowed from his former coach stayed consistent. The first of his 5,667 assists went to Will Barton, who knocked down a 3-pointer, in the third quarter of a loss to the Timberwolves on Oct. 30, 2015. The record-breaking assist went to Jalen Pickett, who knocked down a wing 3 in the middle of the second quarter on Thursday. “Damn. I wish I was on that,” Bruce Brown said after learning he wasn’t the one who scored the big bucket. “This is why I came back. (You) get easy ones. All eyes are always on him.” The defense’s eyes are always fixed on Jokic, but he’s often looking elsewhere to find the open man. On Thursday, Jokic dished out his 13 assists to seven players. Cam Johnson was on the receiving end of five helpers, and Brown finished three plays. Julian Strawther, Jonas Valanciunas, Jamal Murray, Spencer Jones and Pickett each made a shot off a Jokic feed. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić (15) passes the ball a San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) “He plays the game without thinking about who’s who and why. He just does exactly the right thing for his teammates. If you’re the guy that’s open, whether you’re a guy that’s a two-way player or you’re a guy that’s played with him for 10 years and won a championship with him, he’s throwing you the ball, because he trusts you. Guys are more efficient and more effective when they know that the best player trusts them,” Nuggets coach David Adelman said. “When you try to make the right play for your teammate, their percentages go up drastically. That’s just the way it is.” No player has benefitted from the Joker’s charitable approach more than Murray — even if a cutting layup in the second quarter was the only one of Murray’s 11 buckets set up by his running mate. The two have grown up together in Denver and celebrated a championship that wouldn’t have been possible without the other back in 2023. “It’s really cool. This is a time that I’ll be able to look back and appreciate all the years that I’ve had to play this game with him. It’s special,” Murray said. “Passing Kareem in anything is pretty cool. I think it just speaks to his greatness and how unselfish he is.” Murray was on the receiving end of Jokic’s most impressive pass of the night, even if it didn’t go down as an assist. After breaking full-court pressure with a dribble move that saw Jokic bring the ball behind his right leg and thread it inside his left leg, the three-time MVP threw a behind-the-back pass to the point guard, who took one too many dribbles to give Jokic 14 helpers on the night. It was the latest in a long line of improbable passes that Jokic has made commonplace with the Nuggets, though that’s not what he’s out to accomplish. When asked if there was a favorite pass of his career, Jokic didn’t have an immediate answer. He brought up the playoffs but failed to narrow it down. “I think it’s making the right play,” Jokic said. “Maybe it’s not a flashy pass or whatever, but I think when you make the right play you kind of feel good about yourself.” In his on-court interview immediately after the game, Jokic said he would one day lie to his children about these kinds of accomplishments while drinking beer on the porch. There’s no need to lie about being the best passing big man of all time. Abdul-Jabbar played in 1,560 regular-season games and 237 more playoff games over his 20-year career. Jokic, in year 11, has played 771 regular-season games and 94 more in the postseason. Jokic said he only had a couple of hours to think about the accomplishment before shifting his focus to Saturday’s game against the Rockets, but his coach wants the rest of us to give what happened Thursday some serious consideration. “The guy played 20 years and to the very end was impactful on teams that went to the Finals. For Nikola to pass him, I think, says a lot,” Adelman said of Abdul-Jabbar. “Don’t get tired of this, because it’s unique.  … Our guy tonight — from Denver — just passed him in a category. Take that into account. Remember it.” Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić, right, prepares to pass the ball past Sacramento Kings forward/center Drew Eubanks (19) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Randall Benton) ...read more read less