Nikola Jokić: From Overweight Farming Boy to NBA Finals MVP

DENVER – Nikola Jokić has become one of the best basketball players today, even though he didn’t show much when he arrived in the NBA.

He received the Finals MVP award on Monday night as the lowest drafted player in history. Denver chose him in 2014 in the 2nd round with number 41. The Serbian pivot took care of another exceptional record. He became the first player in the league whose absolute playoff numbers were the best in all three of the most watched statistics.

He scored 600 points, 269 rebounds and 190 assists in the playoffs. Jokić’s exceptionality is documented by the third mentioned statistic. A high number of assists for under-the-basket players is not common.

However, “Žolík” is already the fifth best scorer among pivots at the age of 28. He doesn’t even have 600 duels in the NBA yet, and he already has about 4,000 assists in his career. The best in this indicator is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who played 1560 games in the league and recorded 5660 assists. If Jokič does not get injured, he will significantly surpass the record.

Jokić also showed a selfless attitude when accepting the Bill Russell trophy, when NBA commissioner Adam Silver did not forget to highlight that the first MVP of the finals after the death of the eleven-time NBA champion, after whom the award is named, is a pivot again after 18 years.

We always fight for everyone next to us

“We are never alone in this. We always fight for everyone next to us. That is why this trophy means more than an award for one player.” said Jokic directly on the dashboard.

The Serbian pivot won the regular season MVP award in the previous two seasons. However, he seemed to get bored with overseas journalists and for the third time in a row they did not dare to give him the award for the best player of the year, even though he improved his statistics even more. He only narrowly missed the season triple double average. But Jokic responded the same way Giannis Antetokounmpo did two years ago. He followed up the two MVP awards of the regular season by winning the title of MVP of the final.

Dominant end of the playoffs

In the playoffs, Denver dominated, not once letting the series reach the seventh meeting. He lost only once in the final ten games of the season. In the finals of the conference, the Nuggets “swept” the Los Angeles Lakers 4:0, and Jokic, in a direct confrontation with LeBron James, left the four-time best player of the finals in gloomy thoughts.

IT’S A POOL DAYpic.twitter.com/zf38DlwYu3

— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) June 13, 2023

“There are only a few players who can reach such a high level of play that I strive for. Maximum variability. Jokić is like that. He can finish from under the basket, shoot from a distance, rebound. He sees things before they happen. A lot of people don’t understand how special he is,” James acknowledged.

European basketball powerhouse

The MVP award of the final is an achievement not only for Jokić himself, but also for Serbia and its educational system. The Serbs have long been among the world leaders in basketball, although they have fewer professional clubs than Slovakia. However, they play in high-quality international competitions.

The Serbs were still at war with the Croats and Bosniaks in 1997, but already in 2000 they renewed the joint basketball league under the name Jadranská. Last season, Partizan Belgrade had the highest average attendance in the Euroleague – 17,938 spectators. However, Jokić is not a pupil of either “undertaker” or Crvena Zvezda.

It is a product of the KK Mega team, which was founded by employees of a wrapping paper factory to become a club with the best youth program in Serbia. In addition to Jokić, there are currently five other players in the NBA who were drafted by this small Belgrade club. He was able to raise the best basketball player of today, even though he himself did not want it at first.

Unwanted fat man from a farming family

The native of Sombor in Vojvodina was not a natural talent and did not even belong to the privileged class. He comes from a farming family, was overweight throughout his childhood and later admitted to drinking three liters of Coke a day. He started playing basketball only to be with his friends. He never thought about playing in the NBA, it was his older brother’s dream.

When Nikola was 15 years old, the trainer told him that working with him was a waste of time and that if that was to change, he had to start in the gym. That’s when he started working on himself and taking basketball seriously. However, no one noticed his arrival in the NBA. There is no record of Commissioner Silver reading his name at the draft. At that time, an advertisement for an omelet was running in America.

“It was a great journey. They picked me as number 41, but when you’re already in the league, it doesn’t matter. There are a lot of great players on the Miami team who weren’t even drafted.” reminded Jokić while besieging journalists, some of them must suffer his success.

Not even in the top five? Mr. Jackson, that’s going to jail

Especially journalists from the largest American broadcaster, ESPN, for whom Jokić is uninteresting in terms of marketing. He does not use social networks at all and does not appear in advertisements. Former Golden State coach and current ESPN analyst Mark Jackson was the only journalist who did not include him in the top five of the best players when voting for the MVP award. Former center Kendrick Perkins called him the worst MVP in history and a stat chaser. However, the Serbian giant kept his mouth shut.

“It feels good to be a champion. I’ve done my job, I can go home,” said Jokič with traditional ease.

• Author: © List
• VIDEO: Twitter/Denver Nuggets
• Source: TASR, Sports shoes