Why You Should Revere Nikola Jokić

Instant gratification. Narcissism. Arrogance. These are the qualities valued in the 21st century. And that’s why you know nothing about Nikola Jokić, one of the greatest talents to ever play in the NBA.

 

The Beginnings

Nikola Jokić entered the world in 1995 in the sleepy northwestern Serbian city of Sombor. The son of an agricultural engineer, his upbringing was not one of excess—two bedrooms served as an abode for six people, including his two older brothers.

He was a doughy adolescent—but a tall one—and what he lacked in raw athletic talent he made up for with hand-eye coordination. The latter caught the attention of local basketball scouts, and by the age of 17, Jokić was playing professionally in Serbia.

Anonymity, however, was still his most likely destiny.

 

The Next Step

In 2014, Jokić was taken in the second round of the NBA draft by the Denver Nuggets. Impressive on the surface, yes, but most second-round picks are out of the league within a few years. Jokić, in fact, opted to stay in Europe for another year before ultimately crossing the Atlantic.

By the percentages, the trip to the US would have been predicted to be short-lived.

But the Serbian had something that is harder to measure—work ethic.

At the end of his first season in Denver, Jokić was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

Still, no one could have anticipated what was to come.

 

The Leap to Stardom

In his second season, Jokić spent several weeks coming off the bench, eventually finding his groove and securing his first triple-double (a game with double digits in three categories, usually points, rebounds, and assists).

This statistical accomplishment is typically reserved for those smaller than Jokić who are adept at—and expected to—pass the ball. Jokić, however, is not just any seven-footer, possessing a court vision and creativity that allow him to find open teammates before even they know they’re open. Thanks to this gift, he has become a triple-double machine, accomplishing the feat a whopping 105 times in just 596 regular season games. That already leaves him at sixth all time, just behind Lebron James, who has reached the mark 107 times in…1,421 games. On one occasion, Jokić set an NBA record by achieving a triple-double merely 14 minutes and 33 seconds into a 48-minute game!

His deliberate, intellectual approach has also allowed him to dominate another metric—efficiency. During the 2021-22 season, he achieved the highest single-season player efficiency rating (PER) in NBA history at 32.85. As of this writing, his career PER is behind only one player—a certain Michael Jordan. And in the 2022-23 season, he made an absurd 63.2% of his attempted shots. (It’s perhaps not surprising that in two of the aforementioned triple-doubles, he didn’t miss a single shot.)

This statistical prowess has not gone unnoticed. The Joker, as he is called, has been selected for the All-Star Game five times, made the All-NBA First Team three times (and Second Team twice), and won the league’s Most Valuable Player award twice.

And just to officially silence his myopic critics, in 2023, Jokić led the Nuggets to an NBA championship for the first time in their 47-year history.

 

Behind the Scenes

For all his success on the court, Jokić has struggled to find his footing off the court.

Well, that’s the narrative you might have come to expect. It just doesn’t apply in this case.

Jokić has been described as humble and good-natured, gaining a league-wide reputation for his self-deprecating sense of humor. He married his childhood sweetheart—with whom he has one daughter—and remains inseparable from his brothers.

When time allows, he enjoys revisiting his agricultural roots, stepping off the grid and diving into the world of horses and horse racing. He has also been known to enjoy the lavish game of ping pong.

 

Questions

So why, then, is Nikola Jokić not a household name?

Is it because he’s not American?

Or doesn’t speak English like Shakespeare?

Was his path to success overly mundane?

Is he too understated?

Not selfish enough?

Too classy?

Or family-oriented?

Maybe because he thinks before he speaks?

And doesn’t obsess about social media?

Or bend the law?

Trample on teammates?

Lie?

Why?