The NBA season gets underway again this week, with Denver as the defending champion. Whether the Nuggets can remain No. 1 will largely depend on two-time MVP Nikola Jokic. He has had a remarkable summer, in which basketball was by no means central.
There is no NBA player for whom basketball seems to be as low on the priority list as Nikola Jokic. The love for the sport rarely shines through when the Serbian talks about basketball. For him it is a job like any other.
Jokic’s reaction after winning the NBA title in June, the sporting highlight in his basketball career and in Denver’s club history, was illustrative. But Jokic heaved a deep sigh at the prospect of the champions’ parade and spoke honestly: “I just want to go home.”
Home for Jokic is Sombor, a village in the north of Serbia, a stone’s throw from the Hungarian border. It’s where Jokic spent most of his summer, away from basketball. Surrounded by family, friends and his horses, his great passion. When he talks about his horses, his eyes sparkle.
Nikola needed to be himself, surrounded by his family. This was necessary to be able to return with a charged battery.
team owner Josh Kroenke
In Sombor, Jokic relaxed in the summer in recent years and basketball always became a completely secondary issue. Perhaps that is also where Jokic’s great strength lies, because anyone who can put the game into perspective in this way is mentally very strong.
But unlike in the past, the NBA Finals MVP was given little rest this summer: that’s just the fate of the best basketball player in the world.
Jokic is known for shielding his private life, but in recent months he has gone viral several times during his long Serbian summer of partying. Horse racing, front flips during a rafting trip, dancing, singing: it was all eagerly filmed and shared on social media.
The summer was far too short, because we had to play 2.5 months longer to win the title.
Nikola Jokic
In Denver they understood that they had to give their MVP as much of his excesses as possible this summer. “He needed to be himself, surrounded by his family. That was necessary to be able to return with a charged battery,” says team owner Josh Kroenke.
Coach Mike Malone also realizes this. “It is always difficult for Nikola to leave Sombor, his family, his friends and his horses. His mental health comes first for me. I have the impression that he has returned with a fresh mind,” said Malone on the Media Day.
Jokic himself looked back on his unprecedented summer of celebration in his typical way. “People are bored with their boring lives and then they film me,” the Serb grinned. “Was this the best summer of my life? On the contrary. It was much too short, because we had to play 2.5 months longer to win the title.”
WATCH: A selection from Nikola Jokic’s summer of celebration
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2023-10-23 13:30:44
#Horse #racing #rafting #dancing #singing #MVP #Nikola #Jokics #summer #celebration #unprecedented #short #N.B.A
