This story originally appeared in Mile High Sports Magazine. Read the full digital edition.
Nikola Jokic snuck up on a lot of folks last year.
Whether it be opposing NBA teams, Nuggets fans or even his head coach Michael Malone, no one expected Jokic to do what he did. And that’s exactly the way the 21-year old entering his second NBA season likes it.
The young man is very clear – his nickname is Joker.
“He always surprises people and always has an ace up his sleeve,” Jokic says with a smile after a Nuggets preseason practice in early October, referring to the cartoon character for which he’s been dubbed. “He’s someone who always makes the defense make a change, and I like that.”
Yes, the rest of the league had to make plenty of changes when it came to defending Jokic last year, especially as the season rolled on.
It went from “Who is this guy?” to “How do you stop him?”
The 6-foot-10 Jokic finished third in Rookie of the Year voting and made the First Team All-Rookie squad. He shot 53.5 percent from the field, while averaging 10 points, seven rebounds, 2.4 assists, a steal and more than half a block a game. He also drained a third of his threes, quite respectable for a dude who can’t board an airplane without a severe duck.
And while the overall season numbers are respectable, the real tingling feeling of potential Nuggets fans get when his name comes up has to do with a chunk of games Joker had down the stretch.
On Feb. 1 in Toronto, Jokic put up 27 points and 14 rebounds while shooting 12-of-18 from the field. Later in the month he had a three-game stretch against the Celtics, Kings and Clippers where he had a double-double in all three games, averaging more than 12 rebounds per game. To finish the season against Utah and Portland he went a combined 14-of-19 from the field, scoring 37 points and hauling in 24 rebounds.
Joker isn’t a joke. And neither is his nickname. But some other options thrown around were
“Big honey. Big sexy. I don’t know, we all have like a thousand of these. And some guys have come up with a couple of rude ones. I don’t like those. I like Joker,” Jokic says.
What were some of the rude ones?
“I don’t want to say,” Jokic says, snickering, as in they’re pretty funny but you’ve got a tape recorder in your hand.
That’s something you have to remember about him; he’s just a kid who was nearly anonymous this time a year ago.
Boy, a lot has changed.
***
At Nuggets Media Day in late September a slew of reporters hung out on the team’s practice court inside Pepsi Center.
There were photo shoots and promotional bits going on all around. The boys were back for another season and everyone wanted the latest and greatest from some of them.
That didn’t include Nikola Jokic last season. This go-around was a whole different story.
Jokic did a morning group session with reporters, laughing and jovial, and, speaking in his thick accent, the kid won over the crowd.
But even after head coach Michael Malone, GM Tim Connelly and team president and governor Josh Kroenke distracted reporters for more than a half hour, taking questions from a stage in a different part of the building, many folks still wanted to talk with Jokic.
Jokic wasn’t so sure. At one point, after declining an interview request, he kicked a bag of basketballs lying on the floor out of frustration. Another exchange went like this: What’s up Nikola, you got three minutes?
“What’s up,” Jokic said, walking briskly away, a clear sign he was done for the day.
About a week later, as Jokic exits the Nuggets practice court again, the team’s PR staff corrals him to chat for a few minutes. As he flails his arms while saying “No!” it’s clear he knows it’s a battle he isn’t going to win.
After a quick reminder this interview was for the cover of the magazine photo shoot he did the day before, that smile immediately comes back.
“Oh, okay. So this interview is going to be long then?” Jokic says with a grin while looking at a member of the Nuggets PR team.
And he couldn’t have been more friendly and honest throughout. Jokic and interviews are like the guy who hates going to the gym, but once he gets there has no problem working out. It appears to be more about the dread of doing it than actually doing it.
Jokic gladly explains his nickname preference, discusses his friendship with Rocky, the team’s mascot, talks about the Cheesecake Factory, video games and, of course, his experience winning a silver medal with Serbia in the 2016 Olympics.
The exchange about Rocky is particularly charming.
“Rocky’s the best mascot in the world,” Jokic offers up, unsolicited.
Why do you say that?
“I really like him. He’s the first guy I did a commercial with. It was me and [Emmanuel] Mudiay and my first commercial was with Rocky. I’m going to remember that all my life.”
Do you like the mascot or the guy who plays the mascot?
“I know who plays him. He’s my friend too. Not many people know who’s really Rocky.”
Is he in the building a lot out of costume?
“I can’t tell you. That’s a secret,” Jokic says like he doesn’t want to disclose a new girl in school he has a crush on.
The grin doesn’t go away, and neither does the sense you’re talking to a very endearing young man who’s just so new to all of this that it can be overwhelming at times.
It’s hard to blame him.
Not only is Jokic an up-and-coming name in the NBA and Denver, he’s a full-blown hero back in his hometown of Sombor, Serbia.
There’s a YouTube video titled “Nikola Jokic emotivno doziveo docek u Somboru” that has just north of 15,000 views. There’s no English spoken in it and there are no subtitles, but it tells you all you need to know about Jokic, his loyalty to his country and just how special this past summer in Rio really was – no translator required.
***
On Friday, Aug. 12, Serbia put a scare into United States basketball fans.
It was largely because of Nikola Jokic.
The Nuggets’ rising star scored 25 points and added six assists and three rebounds as the U.S. barely squeaked out a group play win by a score of 94-91.
As fate would have it, the two squads would meet nine days later with a gold medal on the line. Allegiances amongst Nuggets players, coaches and the front office were a bit torn.
“Obviously, I’m from the United States of America and this is a great country. But selfishly I was rooting for Nikola,” head coach Michael Malone says when asked after a Nuggets practice what his emotions were like that day.
“He’s a guy that had a tremendous rookie season and carried that over into the summer and was able to bring home a silver medal. I think I speak for everyone in the organization that [we] couldn’t be happier for him and prouder of him. What a great accomplishment for a kid – first time playing for his country – and as you all know basketball in Serbia is like a religion,” Malone adds.
Jokic and his country were drubbed that day, falling 96-66, but even making it that far was a tremendous accomplishment. Malone clarifies he was rooting for the U.S. to win and Jokic to play well (“something like that,” he says), but he wasn’t the only one pulling hard for Joker that day.
“Actually, when I came back here a bunch of people told me they were cheering for us in the finals. Kenneth [Faried] told me that. And Mike Miller told me he was rooting for me, but not for my team,” Jokic says when asked if any teammates were on board the Serbia bandwagon that day.
While many folks involved with the Nuggets had to carefully consider the outcome they wanted, everyone back in Sombor was glued to their TVs. And even with the disappointing loss, they all showed up to a rally to welcome Jokic home a little more than a week later.
That’s where the YouTube video comes into play.
It’s only 1:32 long and the quality isn’t great, but it will tug at your heartstrings.
In it you see Jokic, with a microphone, silver medal draped around his neck, addressing a crowd of adoring fans.
The problem is, he struggles to get the words out. Multiple times, Jokic begins to cry.
The good folks at Denver Stiffs were able to make a rough translation of the video through the help of a commenter on their site and published the following:
Nikola: “People, I had made some speech, but I didn’t believe so many people would come
so I don’t think I will tell that speech.”
(crowd cheering)
Nikola: “Thank you, thanks to mayor, thanks for the nice words, thanks to my people of Sombor, and thank you a lot, this means a lot to me, it is hard for me…”
(Crowd begins to cheer “Nikola! Nikola!”)
Nikola in tears.
Host: “Was it harder in Rio or here now for you?”
Nikola: “It was easier in Rio… dammit” (starts crying again)
The video is well worth 92 seconds of your time. It’s a young man who knows he made his country proud, and couldn’t hold the tears back when seeing so many people he grew up with come out to support him.
“I couldn’t hold my emotions. That was a really big thing for me because I love my hometown. I want to go back when I finish my career. The people and my friends made that for me. I saw too many familiar faces and just started to cry. I think it was a happy cry. Hopefully we can do that again,” Jokic says.
Maybe someday, Jokic can “happy cry” for the people of Denver as well.
***
So what’s next for Nikola Jokic in both the short- and long-term?
In the short-term, he’s clearly Denver’s second-best player, if not the best. He and Danilo Gallinari figure to duke it out all season long for that honor.
If the Nuggets find a way to make the playoffs this season, it could largely be because Jokic finds a sophomore surge and takes another big leap after his phenomenal rookie year.
When it comes to discussing personal goals, Joker isn’t having it, instead focusing his thoughts back on the team.
“We just need to think about wins. Those are all that matter. Players have numbers on their list [they want to achieve] – rebounds, scoring and assists but the only thing we need to think about at all is wins,” Jokic says.
As far as the long-term is concerned, at some point Jokic is going to need to get paid.
When you’re the No. 41 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, it’s not like you strike it rich, at least not in NBA terms. Jokic is entering the second of a three-year deal with the Nuggets (there’s a club option for 2018-19) that pays him $1.35M this season.
That’s great money, sure, but after seeing some of the silly contracts handed out this offseason, a few more years on an upward trajectory and Jokic could someday ink a long-term deal that has eight zeroes on the end of it.
For now, the kid still wants to surprise people, and he doesn’t have much of a desire to do anything but continue to fly under the radar – even with the extra media attention coming his way.
“I try not to think about that. I keep my friends close and my family close and those are the only people that matter to me – and I think it’s supposed to be like that,” Jokic says.
Joker might not sneak up on any NBA teams this year.
That doesn’t mean Nikola Jokic is out of aces up his sleeve.