Audio By Carbonatix
Motivational speeches and unsolicited business takes are a dime a dozen on LinkedIn, but the uplifting jargon might hit differently when it’s from an NBA player, especially when he’s coming off a twenty-point performance in a do-or-die playoff game.
The day after nailing four of his five three-point attempts in game five against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Nuggets small forward Spencer Jones posted a short video clip of teammate Nikola Jokic being asked a question by a reporter during the postgame presser. The reporter essentially spent ten seconds asking Jokic if the team “still really cares,” to which Jokic provided a one-word answer: “Yes.”
Jones decided to expand the next day, writing a classic LinkedIn-engagement-style take — you know, where each sentence is its own paragraph, so we keep reading and engaging with the post — for his 32,000 followers.
(Kind of like this.)
See all of if it below.
“Opportunity is usually disguised as adversity.
I remember after Game 4 listening to this piece of the postgame conference:
“Do you still think this group really cares?”
Just two games ago, we were up at half thinking we had a hold on this series. And only a week later staring down the end of our season.
Down 3–1. Without a couple key players. And with so many narratives we never expected to hear about a championship-level team.
And like so many other times this season, I’m thrusted into the chaos. Starting in a win-or-go-home game, with one of the toughest defensive assignments of the night.
That’s how quickly things change.
Momentum in the playoffs isn’t something you hold, but it’s something you navigate. It can feel solid one minute, then slip just as fast the next.
A couple possessions go the wrong way, energy dips, focus wavers for a second… and suddenly everything feels like it’s tilted against you.
We felt that.
But like narratives, momentum is fragile and it’s reversible.
That’s the playoffs.
Every possession carries weight; every moment can shift the story; but, the same way momentum can leave, it can come back.
That’s what Game 5 was. Not some perfect performance, nor some clean, scripted turnaround. Just a group that stayed with it long enough for things to tilt back.
And with our backs against the wall, I will forever remember being a part of that push.
Game 6 is Thursday.
the story isn’t written yet.“
Jones has been providing insight into his psyche all season long, including his reaction tough losses. After he missed two game-winning shot attempts earlier this season, Jones said “it comes with the job,” along with more insight into an NBA roleplayer’s mindset (and some motivational gobbledygook sprinkled in…after all, it is LinkedIn).
A day after the Nuggets were stomped in game-four in Minnesota, he spoke of leaning into mismatches. In traditional LinkedIn fashion, the posts always turn back around to leadership or business:
“That’s what playoff basketball really is. Not just talent, but targeting advantages.
The more I think about it, the more I see the same pattern everywhere.
The best companies don’t try to win on every front. They find one edge and lean into it until it becomes undeniable. The best founders understand where they’re strong, where others are vulnerable, and build around that gap.
At the highest level, everyone is good.
The difference is who understands the mismatch and who knows how to keep going back to it.“
Is it all bordering on LinkedIn Lunatic? Who’s to say? But it’s fun to see athletes use different ways to connect with fans and normies, and despite his play of late, Jones is still new to the NBA.
After going undrafted in 2024, Jones was picked up by the Nuggets on a two-way deal, bouncing between Denver’s NBA roster and playing for its G-League affiliate in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Nuggets converted Jones’s contract in February, however, guaranteeing him a full-time spot on the roster through the rest of the season. Like a true LinkedIn grinder, Jones celebrated his “raise” in a post after signing the deal.
Jones will be a restricted free agent when the season ends. If he keeps playing like this, he’ll likely be getting another raise — but as a Stanford University graduate, he probably isn’t done working after his basketball career ends, either. In fact, Jones currently has four active investing roles, according to his LinkedIn page, which shows that he also worked as an advisor for an AI manufacturing company for about a year…after he signed with the Nuggets.
The Nugs take on the Timberwolves tonight, April 30, in Minnesota, hoping to keep their season alive and force a game seven.
I’ll be checking my LinkedIn feed the morning after.
