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Jokic won the Adriatic League MVP and Top Prospect awards in 2015, honors that immediately preceded Denver signing him to a rookie contract that summer. Jokic played one more year overseas, and the extra seasoning only solidified the hints of potential. Though they drafted Jokic in 2014, the Nuggets had to wait an extra year to bring their future franchise big man into the fold. The Nuggets would subsequently promise to select the Serbian prospect at No. Nikola Jokic, 95, withdraw his name from the draft. Roughly two weeks before the 2014 NBA Draft, Jokic’s name was temporarily removed from the pool of candidates, a decision his agent tweeted about at the time. One year of seasoning and improvement later, Denver drafted him 41st overall.

He averaged a whopping 1.8 points and 2 rebounds in 10.2 minutes per game in the 2012-13 season.
#Nikola jokic nba professional#
After tiptoeing into the professional ranks for all of six months, a 17-year-old Jokic joined Mega Leks (Serbia) in 2012.
#Nikola jokic nba pro#
Jokic’s basketball path to the NBA was short and steep that’s a credit to how quickly he became a pro prospect. Nikola Jokic of the World Team boxes out against the USA Team on Apat the Moda Center Arena in Portland, Oregon.
#Nikola jokic nba full#
At the time, full games were not broadcast in Serbia. Highlights of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant initially caught his attention, then clips of great passers and big men. I was in between both.” In fact, as a pre-teen, he once quit basketball and left a game at halftime for a chariot horse race.Ī young Jokic’s only window into the NBA was YouTube, and he didn’t even look through it until he was roughly 14 years old. And I wasn’t taking basketball serious either. The small-town Serbian developed a deep appreciation for the animals, telling SLAM, “I just fell in love with horses and their beauty and elegance. There’s an alternate universe where, instead of directing the most devastating offense in the NBA, Nikola Jokic is content riding or at least caring for racing horses. In high school, I couldn’t do one pushup.” I loved some classes - math, history, that’s pretty much it. “I was taller than most of the guys and girls, and fattest, too. Many professional athletes show an early proclivity for sports. We try to put it in context with 15 interesting facts about the most notable No. His ascent from little-known Draft prospect to this point is nothing short of extraordinary. Nikola Jokic, the two-time Kia MVP and most dominant player of the 2023 playoffs, has the Denver Nuggets in the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. You get the win.Ben Taylor from Thinking Basketball analyzes the brilliant passing of Nikola Jokic and puts his skills in context among some of the game’s all-time best. I mean, that's what's really neat about it. For those guys to make history the way they did tonight, no one has ever done that. "You know, I've been with Nikola for eight and Jamal for seven years now, and we've had some pretty good moments, but not in the NBA Finals," Malone said. He rebounded the Heat's first miss, assisted the Nuggets' first basket to Jamal Murray - who had his own 30-point triple-double - and scored their third basket himself in what turned out to be a fitting start to a historic night. There will be no such conversation after Game 3, as Jokic did whatever he wanted all night long. Though Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra scoffed at that notion, it was notable that the Nuggets lost despite 41 points from Jokic, and moved to just 6-9 between the regular season and playoffs when he had six or fewer assists. In between Games 2 and 3, much of the conversation was about the Heat's ability to take away some of Jokic's passing game and turn him into a scorer.
