Former NBA veteran Jared Dudley, now serving as an assistant coach for the Denver Nuggets, has taken on a key role overseeing the team’s defensive system.
After a long playing career known for his basketball IQ and adaptability, Dudley’s primary objective in Denver is focused and straightforward.
“Coming up with a defense that protects (Nikola Jokic),” he explained to Bennett Durando of the Denver Post.
To accomplish that, Dudley is emphasizing schemes that rely more heavily on the team’s perimeter players.
The idea is for Denver’s guards and wings to assume greater defensive responsibility, allowing Jokic to stay closer to the basket and preserve his energy for the offensive end, where he remains one of the league’s most dominant forces.
“I can’t teach (him) anything offensively. You’re already this. You’ve got that,” Dudley said of Jokic, acknowledging the reigning MVP’s natural offensive brilliance.
“But defensively, I can teach you. I’ve played with different centers. I’ve played with Boban (Marjanovic), who’s bigger than you and slower than you. … I only want him to think about going back to the rim, Point A to Point B. I don’t want him having him to go guard these guards on the wings, in rotations.”
Longtime NBA player Jared Dudley is now tasked with devising the Nuggets’ defensive schemes: https://t.co/Nw5wggz08F pic.twitter.com/V16n4hWCrt
— Hoops Rumors (@HoopsRumors) November 6, 2025
