How did Nikola Jokic go from European basketball to become an NBA star?

Nikola Jokic was not in the United States when he was drafted to be an NBA player. According to his brother’s own reports, the Serb wasn’t even awake when he called from New York to break the news. Aged 21 at the time and 2.10 meters tall, the center was wearing a white Space Jam T-shirt in his hometown of Sombor.

“I was taller than most of the boys and girls, and the fattest too. He loved classes like math, history and didn’t like physical activities. In high school, I couldn’t do a push-up.”said the Serb to the American press.

The peaceful beginning of the main name of the 2023 NBA Finals has been developing for years and has already shown its potential when he was chosen, for two consecutive years, the MVP of the main basketball league on the planet. Including, almost earning a third year, if it weren’t for Joel Embiid. Nomination that was still contested, with a good part of the press and basketball fans wanting the title to go to Jokic.

But the Serbian player’s career began with a toy hoop, playing with brothers who bent down to be the same height as the NBA star. And, as early as 16 years old, Nikola left home to play for Mega Leks, team of the Serbian League. In his third year, he was named MVP. By that time, he had already been drafted by the Nuggets in June 2014, but opted to remain in Eastern Europe, only arriving in Denver in 2015.

When he arrived, he lost 15 kilos before his NBA debut. And in the 12th game he was on the court for the Nuggets, Nikola Jokic scored 23 points and 12 rebounds. Numbers that, for the Serb’s current game, are practically nothing. And all this happened thanks to newspaper articles.

“This story is peculiar because usually all NBA or even Euroleague players are discovered by a team of scouts who are traveling around countries, watch kids who stand out playing and start to follow them. But no one really paid attention to this guy.” stated Misko Raznatovicon the All The Smoke Podcast.

“As an old-fashioned guy, I like to read newspapers, but not on the internet. So, every Sunday there is a Serbian newspaper with all the results from all over the country and from all leagues. I was reading that newspaper and I saw that guy from the competition, the Serbian Under-18, who is very short, scoring 29 points and, if I’m not mistaken, 26 rebounds, and I said: ‘Wow’. The following week, the next Sunday, I was reading the paper again and I said, ‘Let me see that guy.’ So I saw 30 points and 27 rebounds.”added Misko, one of Europe’s most influential basketball figures who, as an agent, has negotiated some of Europe’s biggest deals and runs the BeoBasket Agency, which has produced many Euroleague athletes.

Raznatovic called one of his scouts to ask about Jokic, but he didn’t know Nikola. And in Jokic’s first evaluation, the scout assured that the Serb was “not strong, very versatile, a little overweight, sneaky, but talented”. After that, Jokic’s family received an invitation to join the agency.

Jokic even lived through a period of many conflicts in his home country. Especially when NATO troops were in Serbia during 1999, when the player was only 4 years old. But this one claims to remember the noise of sirens and bomb shelters.

But in the NBA, Nikola Jokic’s progress has overcome all odds. In his sophomore year, he started the first eight games of the season. After that, he was benched for the next 14 games. Still, that season, he had a game with thirty points and another, in February 2017, as his first career triple-double, with 20 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists in a 121-117 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. And, after that season with gala performances, Jokic showed that he could be the name of the Denver Nuggets for years to come.

This did not take long to happen when, at the beginning of the following season, Jokic scored 41 points on top of brooklyn nets, leading the team to victory. This season’s effective performance meant that, before 2018, the Serbian signed a five-year extension contract for 148 million dollars. Something unimaginable for his Serbian family, until then.

In Game 1, against Spurs, became the 4th player in NBA history to record a triple-double in his playoff debut. The first name since LeBron James he also achieved the feat, in 2006. Two years later, for two years, he managed to win the MVP title with memorable performances and leading the Denver Nuggets to the postseason. With that, not only did he make it clear that he was one of the top names in the league, but he was already writing his name in history.

Now, in 2023, eight years after being drafted by the Denver Nuggets while he was sleeping, the Serbian could become the main responsible for the first title in franchise history, in his unprecedented final. And you can watch game 5 of the series, which is already 3-1 for Denver, over the Miami Heat, starting at 9:30 pm (Brasília time) with broadcast on ESPN and the Star+ streaming platform.