Before being selected by the Denver Nuggets in the 2014 NBA Draft out of his native Serbia, Nikola Jokic was an obese, Coca-Cola-drinking youngster with an odd fixation with horses and harness racing.
Despite having two elder brothers who were great athletes and a 6-foot-11 physique, trainers recall him finding it difficult to do a single push-up. Additionally, the media and NBA clubs mostly overlooked the youngster.
ESPN didn’t even bother to play the announcement when Denver finally selected Jokic in the second round, long after the top prospects had been selected; instead, it ran a late-night Taco Bell commercial.
Even though Jokic had another year before joining the squad, he had already undergone a transformation when he finally came to the US in 2015: on the trip to Denver, he drank the last Coke of his life, and as soon as he got there, he started an intense training program that completely changed the way his physique looked.
After guiding the Nuggets to a Game 1 victory against the Miami Heat in the Finals Opener on Thursday, Jokic—who is now a married father—is the greatest star on the largest platform in the NBA. Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal lauded the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player for his “impressive passing, scoring, and leadership” as he recorded a triple-double (double figures in three statistical categories).
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Nikola Jokic is pictured with his wife, Natalija, and their young daughter, Ognjena
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Young Nikola (right), pictured with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Branislav, and brother Nemanja
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Jokic had a triple-double in Denver’s Game 1 win over the visiting Miami Heat
Before Sunday night’s NBA Finals in Denver, Mail Sport examines Nikola Jokic’s incredible rise from a modest Serbian hamlet to the pinnacle of basketball.
Jokic was reared in a two-bedroom apartment with his parents, two brothers, and grandmother after being born in the little town of Sombor.
“It’s a really small town on the northwest of Serbia,” Jokic described the approximately 40,000-person city to SLAM magazine. We have a really pleasant personality. However, I just like the folks there. It resembles family.
Jokic was influenced by his brother Nemanja, who played college basketball in the US, and his brother Strahinja, who was a decade older and a professional basketball player in Europe. Branislav, Jokic’s father, was an agricultural engineer.
Jokic had a curious interest in horses in addition to hoops when he was little.
In fact, Jokic’s obsession with harness racing caused him to give up basketball for six months during his early adolescence.
“I’ve always played basketball,” Jokic said to SLAM magazine. My two elder brothers were basketball players. They made me fall in love with basketball. Every time, we would play together.
However, I eventually began to become involved with horse racing. I have a newfound admiration for horses’ grace and beauty. For me, it was much like a pastime. I didn’t take it seriously. Furthermore, I wasn’t very serious about basketball. I felt ambivalent about both.
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Jokic owned a Nuggets sweatshirt in his youth (left) before falling in love with basketball
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A photo of a young Jokic and Natalija from 2012, when the two were still residents of Serbia
Jokic said that he turned his focus back to basketball after competing in one amateur race as a jockey and placing fourth.
Not only was he growing up in basketball-mаd Serbia, but NBA clips were also easily accessible because of YouTube. Abruptly enthralled by the best players in the league, Jokic quickly became a basketball devotee.
He said, “I started to watch highlights from some players when I was like 14 and they would just show certain moves and not the entire games.” It was similar to Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. These days, they have that broadcast on television for major games, the Finals, or All-Star games.
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Jokic’s wife Natalija and their young daughter, Ognjena, are pictured during Game 1
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Nemanja and Strahinja, Jokic’s brothers, are two of his most well-known supporters in Denver.
Jokic adopted a one-handed passing technique that was reminiscent of water polo, one of Serbia’s national sports, and had an instantaneous, instinctive grasp of the game.
Dejan Milojevic, Jokic’s coach of Mega Basket of the Adriatic League, told Sports Illustrated that “Nikola’s passing isn’t decent.” “It’s remarkable.”
While other centers were figuring out how to live close to the basket, Jokic was refining his all-around skills, which were further enhanced by his selfless play.
Jokic’s issue was conditioning, not competence.
“I could tell right away that this guy is really talented,” Milojevic said. “But his physical condition is appalling.”
Jokic consumed up to three liters of Coca-Cola a day as a teenager, but he started to lose weight with Mega Basket.
Jokic was first assigned to practice only with a trainer for a month by Milojevic before being placed on Mega Basket’s youth squad, where coaches took an instant interest in him.
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Jokic remаins interested in horses, and was recently seen at a Serbian stable in the offseason
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Jokic is seen here as a teenager taking part in some harness racing in his native Serbia
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This picture shows Jokic and his wife Natalija, who are both from Somber, Serbia, together with a local horse.
Coach Branislav Vicentic of Jokic’s junior squad questioned him whether he had rehearsed the exercise after he executed a difficult move perfectly that required him to dribble two balls at once.
“He stated,” “No, this is the initial instance,” Vicentic said to SI.com.
Before joining Mega Basket’s senior squad, Jokic won the junior league MVP award. He then carried over his success to the senior team.
Jokic was lulling opponents to sleep with his slow, plodding pace before unleashing lightning-quick passes and a unique range of shots, while others were depending on speed and agility.
According to ESPN pundit and former college coach Fran Fraschilla, “he’s so slow that his basketball mind slows down and he sees the game in slow motion,” as reported by SI.com. “He’s not sped up like a lot of young players are, which allows him to make plays.”
When NBA scouts started to take notice of Jokic in 2014, he ultimately entered the draft and the Nuggets selected him 41st overall.
Although there was an appearance prejudice and the player lacked muscular definition, an unidentified NBA official informed Sports Illustrated that he might have been selected higher.
Jokic would play in the Adriatic League for one more season, winning a rebounding championship and MVP awards.
He eventually signed with Denver in 2015, and after a few years of courting, he moved into a three-bedroom apartment with his siblings and his then-girlfriend, Natalija, a longtime acquaintance from Somber.
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Jokic and Novak Djokovic, two of Serbia’s most famous athletes, are shown in Belgrade in 2020.Before Jokic traveled to the US, Natalija and Jokic were in a long-distance relationship, during which she played college volleyball. The two became inseparable very quickly.Natalija was often seen sitting with his siblings during Denver games or traveling with Jokic.Cooking was Natalija’s domain at home, unless brother Nemanja felt like roasting cevapi (Serbian sausage).In 2017, Nemanja said to Bleacher Report, “I am the grill guy, but Natalija cooks most of the time.”Jokic said to BR at the time that he was a little “homesick” for his parents, but Natalija and his siblings gave him a lot of support, which was invaluable in his early NBA career.Nemanja told SI that Nikola doesn’t get to decide whether he wants us around or not.He’s a smart person, so I have no doubt that he wouldn’t go off course in this situation. However, this is such a crucial moment, and I want him to have the same kind of support that I did not. I tell him that I see him fulfilling my dream every time. Never take anything for granted.Jokic started training with trainer Felipe Eichenberger in the Mile High City, which would be very important to his growth. While Jokic’s rookie statistics were respectable at first (10 points, 7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game), Eichenberger was struck by the 20-year-old’s tenacity and began to recognize his potential.
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Jimmy Butler of the Heat is seen defending Jokic in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Jokic was ready to perform sprints or lift weights under Eichenberger’s careful supervision even after participating in NBA games.
“It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever witnessed,” Eichenberger said to NBA.com.
Nikola doesn’t stop till he gets something in his brain. We discussed his weight loss to make sure he lived a long life. He was going to play for thirty-two minutes. He was always on the ball. That was already rather exhausting. He would, however, continue to work out hard and run after the game. After working out, his shirt was drenched, and he let go of the weight.
It’s incredible to see him improve in terms of his knowledge of the game and physical condition.
With his unexpecteԀ speed and dunking ability, Jokic quickly rose through the NBA ranks.
In order to give center Jusuf Nurkic more playing time in 2017, the Nuggets moved him to Portland. By the time the 2018–19 season arrived, Jokic was already establishing himself as an All-Star.
Eichenberger attempted to persuade Jokic of his boundless potential at that point.
“It was humorous,” Eichenberger said. “In 2019, I had one of the most intense discussions with him.” “You’re going to be MVP,” I informed him.
He said, “No, I’m not.”
I said, “Yes, you are.”
“We continued, and he became quite irate,” said Eichenberger.
Jokic didn’t see himself as an NBA star despite his evident brilliance; instead, he saw himself as a facilitator who improved players.
That’s not who I am, he emphasized, and I want to help other players get better,” Eichenberger said. “MVPs have to be self-centered and consider their numbers, but I don’t think about that at all,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter what people sаy; you’re going to be MVP one day,” I said. We continued to go back and forth. But after all of his effort, it was accomplished.
It did not only occur, but it occurred twice.
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Jokic surrounded by former teammates Gary Harris, Jameer Nelson, Emmanuel Mudiay, and Darrell Arthur
Jokic would go on to win MVP in 2021 and 2022, but he didn’t seem to mind when Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid won the trophy this season.
“I no longer consider MVPs,” he said to the press. “Well, I believe that those who аrgue that Embiid shouldn’t have won are just being cruel.” I believe he ought to have prevailed. I believe that during the whole season, he was playing very, really difficult basketball. In the 82 games that he participated in, he was really outstanding.
Jokic even brushes off the claim made by his teammates that he is the greatest player on the Nuggets—a claim he finds оffensive.
Jamal Murray, a guard from Canada, disputes that Jokic is Denver’s top player, despite the fact that Murray claims Murray is.
“We are currently pursuing him as he is our best player,” Murray said earlier in the playoffs.
In the last several years, Jokic has become somewhat more reclusive. Jokic plays with his wedding ring tucked inside his shoes. He and Natalija were married in 2020, and the following year they welcomed Ognjena into the world.
Now that Jokic has led Denver to the NBA Finals for the first time in team history, Ognjena has started to attend Nuggets games often.
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Jokic gives his wife Natalija a wink by playing with his wedding band tucked into his footwear.
Jokic said, “I remember the days when nobody was in our [gym],” after the Nuggets’ four-game Western Conference Finals rout of LeBron James’ Lakers. There were no supporters there, but you could hear the ball bouncing on the ground. Additionally, we now sell out every other night.
Even though the squad was 30-52 before to Jokic’s debut in 2015, that turnaround has been amazing, but it is nothing compared to Jokic’s transformation.
Following the conference finals, Michael Malone, head coach of the Nuggets, said, “He’s an ultra-conditioned athlete now.” “The guy can play at a high level and play for minutes on end.”
Ognjen Stojaković, an assistant coach with the Nuggets who was born in Serbia, told ESPN, “You know he came as a boy.” “He’s a father now.”