Nikola Jokić is one of the best Serbian basketball players of all time. He plays in the positions of center and wing center. He currently plays for the Denver Nuggets in the NBA League. He was born on February 19, 1995 in Sombor.
Career
He started his junior career in the basketball club Vojvodina Srbijagas. Because of the great games he provided, he signed a contract with the BeoBasket agency, whose founder is Miško Ražnatović, one of the most famous European basketball managers.
Nikola soon moved to Mega Vizura (today’s Mega Lex). With this team, he reached the finals of the Euroleague qualifying tournament and was chosen as his ideal five. In 2012, he started playing for the senior team.
The following season, he played 25 games in the Adriatic League and 13 games in the Serbian Super League.
In 2013, he participated with the Serbian U19 national team in the World Cup, which was held in the Czech Republic. Nikola and his teammates won silver.
In the 2014/15 season, he averaged 22 points per game. In 24 games, he recorded 222 rebounds and 527 index points, which is why he was named the most useful player in the Adriatic League, the best scorer and jumper.
He stated that he was leaving Mega Lex, and his jersey number 15 was withdrawn from use.
The Denver Nuggets selected him as the 41st pick in the NBA Draft.
In 2015, he was on the wider list of the national team for the European Basketball Championship, but he did not participate in the competition.
He played in the Summer League in Las Vegas, where he showed himself very well, which is why the club’s leaders extended his contract for four years, which is worth 5.5 million dollars.
He started to record better games, so on February 1, 2016, he scored 27 points against the Toronto Raptors.
He participated in the All-Star Weekend (NBA All-Star Weekend) and scored 12 points with 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
During the 2015/16 season, he found himself in the Denver starting lineup 55 times, and played 80 games. He was declared one of the best newcomers and was in the first line-up of the ideal five rookies (newcomers).
In July 2016, he was a member of the senior national team of Serbia. He participated in the qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games and was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP).
In August, he won a silver medal with the national team at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In the final, they lost to the United States.
On February 3, 2017, he achieved his first triple-double in a game against the Milwaukee Bucks. He scored 20 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. A week later, he gave 40 points in New York, and along with Pedja Stojakovic, he became the second Serb in the NBA league to succeed.
He set a new career record in the match with the Golden State Warriors. He scored 17 points, 12, assists and 21 rebounds, and recorded his second triple-double performance in his career.
A couple of days later, he recorded his third triple-double when he scored 19 points, 16 rebounds and ten assists in the meeting with the Chicago Bulls. His club celebrated again with 125: 107.
He scored his fourth triple-double the following night in a game with the Milwaukee Bucks. Denver celebrated with a score of 110: 98, and the young center contributed to the victory with 13 points, 14 rebounds and ten assists.
He continued to delight NBA basketball fans. On March 16, the Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Clippers with a score of 129: 114, and Jokic recorded his fifth triple-double that season. He scored 17 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists.
Two weeks later, his performance was even better. With 26 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, he contributed to Denver’s victory over the Charlotte Hornets. In the final, they defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Serbian national team player scored 29 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists.
With six triple-doubles in the season, he was in fourth place behind Russell Westbrook, James Harden and LeBron James.
At the very start of the 2017/18 season, Jokić set a new record of 41 points scored in the meeting with the Brooklyn Nets.
On November 13, he was named the basketball player of the week in the Western Conference, which has not happened to Denver since March 2013. He had to miss seven matches due to an ankle injury.
He scored the first triple-double of the new season on January 8 in the match with the Golden State Warriors. He scored 22 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, but that was not enough for his team to win.
He set a new career record in the number of assists on February 15, 2018, at the meeting with Milwaukee. Denver won 134: 123, and Nikola contributed to that with 30 points, 15 rebounds and 17 assists.
In addition, he scored the fastest triple-double in NBA league history (in just 14 minutes and 33 seconds).
He scored his third consecutive triple-double on February 23 against San Antonio Spurs. The Nuggets triumphed with a score of 122: 119, and Jokić scored 28 points, 11 rebounds and the same number of assists.
Ten days later, they lost to Cleveland, and even his 36 points and 13 rebounds could not prevent the defeat.
In the middle of March, they won over the Detroit Pistons, and the Serbian national team player recorded the eighth triple-double of the season. He thus joined the record of Fat Lever from the 1988/89 season.
Jokic showed that he probably plays the best basketball in his life on April 1, when he brought his team a 128: 125 victory over the Bucks with 35 points and 13 rebounds.
He was re-elected Western Conference Player of the Week. On the same day, he scored the 16th triple-double in his career in a match with the Portland Trail Blazers.
On April 11, they lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and Nikola played his seventh game of the season with more than 30 goals.
He signed a new five-year contract worth 148 million dollars with the Nuggets on July 9, 2018.
On October 20, they defeated Phoenix with a score of 119: 91, and Jokić scored 35 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists.
He thus joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only player in NBA league history to score a triple-double with 30 or more points, without a single miss. Chamberlain did it twice in 1966 and 1967.
In addition, he became only the second player of the Nuggets who managed to record the same number of triple-doubles in the first two matches of the season.
He was named the player of the week in the Western Conference for the third time, which was achieved by only five basketball players before him.
He set a season record on November 3 in a win over the Utah Jazz, and just three days later he scored 37 points and recorded 21 rebounds during a loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
The Basketball Association of Serbia declared him a Serbian basketball player in 2018.
He surpassed himself again when he scored 39 points in the game with the Hornets on January 5, and again declared him the player of the week of the Western Conference.
He scored his fourth triple-double of the season three days later in a game with the Miami Heat when he recorded 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. It was the 20th triple-double in his career so far.
At just 23, Jokic became the third youngest player in the NBA to reach 20 triple-doubles. He set a new career record on January 13 when he gave Portland 40 points.
Great games against Cleveland, Utah and Philadelphia (Philadephia 76ers) followed.
On January 31, he was included in the Western Conference team for the All-Star Game of the season. With 25 points, 14 rebounds and ten assists, he could not prevent the defeat of his team from the Nets, but on February 13, he brought victory over the Sacramento Kings with a goal in the last seconds of the match.
With 12 triple-doubles in the season, he came a little closer to Russell Westbrook.
In the first round of the playoff series, they met the Spurs.
Jokic became only the fourth player in the history of the franchise who managed to record a triple-double performance as a debutant in the playoffs. Despite his ten points, 14 rebounds and as many assists, Denver was defeated 101: 96.
In the sixth game of the playoffs, he scored 27 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, but that was not enough for Denver to win. They got revenge in the next match, and Jokić helped with 21 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
After a great fight, Denver managed to eliminate the Spurs in the playoff, and the most deserving for that was Jokić with 21 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.
For the first time in the last ten years, the Nuggets managed to “jump over” the first obstacle in the playoffs and continue to fight for the famous NBA league ring.
The Nuggets were eliminated from the playoffs after a 100-96 defeat by Portland, despite Jokic’s 29 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks.
In 14 playoff matches, Nikola averaged 25.1 points, 13 rebounds and 8.4 assists. He spent almost 40 minutes on the field with a high percentage of shot accuracy.
At the very start of the 2019/20 season, Jokic saved his team from defeat by the Philadelphia Seventies, by scoring a basket 1.2 seconds before the end of the match for the final result of 98:97 in favor of Denver. Only two days later, he did something similar in the meeting with the Minnesota Timberwolves, which the Nuggets defeated with 100: 98 after extra time.
Jokic set a new career record of 47 points on January 6, 2020, during the match with the Atlanta Hawks. His team celebrated that night with a score of 123: 115.
A month later, he scored 30 points, 21 rebounds and 10 assists in the meeting with the Utah Jazz team. The Nuggets celebrated with a score of 98:95, and Nikola became only the third basketball player after Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who managed to score a triple-double with more than 30 points, over 20 rebounds and more than 10 assists.
He was included in the All-Star team, and became the first player of the Nuggets after Carmelo Anthony, who for two years had the honor of being among the best players in the NBA league.
Jokic continued with great games until on March 12, 2020, the leadership of the league made the decision to cancel all matches due to the coronary virus pandemic. This decision was made after it was determined that Rudy Gobert, a Utah Jazz basketball player, was infected with the virus. Representative career Nikola Jokić was a member of the U-19 national team of Serbia, which won a silver medal at the World Cup in 2013. In eight matches, he averaged 7.1 points, 5 rebounds and 1.5 assists. At the qualifying tournament for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, he helped his team win participation in the largest sports festival in the world. He scored 17.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game, and was named the most useful player in the qualifying tournament. Serbia managed to qualify for the Olympics, and met in the group with the national teams of America, Australia, France, Venezuela and China. With two victories and three defeats, the Eagles advanced to the quarterfinals, where they defeated the Croatian national team with a score of 83:86. In the semifinals, they defeated Australia with 61:87, but they did not have enough strength to defeat America and win gold. The decision to miss some representative competitions during the next two years was met with dissatisfaction from the domestic public. After Nikola announced on May 24, 2019 that he would play for Serbia at the World Cup in China, many forgave him “sins from the past”. Serbia defeated all opponents during the preparation period, followed by a trip to China. The Eagles defeated all opponents in their group, and with the maximum number of points and a high basket difference, they started a new round of competition. The victory over Puerto Rico followed, and then the defeat by Spain with the result 81:69. The new cold shower was the national team of Argentina, which, led by Luis Alberto Scola Balvoa , deservedly won with the result 97:87. Serbia is still fighting for the fifth place with another favorite who did not meet expectations – the US national team. This time, the Eagles celebrated with a score of 94:89. Having overcome probably the most pleasant surprise of the tournament, the national team of the Czech Republic, they took the fifth place. Nikola was the second best player, after Bogdan Bogdanović . In this tournament, he recorded 11.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists per match. The percentage of shots from the game was 68 percent high. Private life Nikola’s mother is a nurse and her father is an agricultural engineer. He has two older brothers, Strahinja and Nemanja, who also play basketball in America. Nicole’s dream was to become a jockey, but he didn’t realize it due to being overweight. He trained karate and judo, and in physical education classes he struggled with gymnastics and push-ups. Since Nikola’s father was a basketball fan, he influenced him to start playing this sport. When he was in the third grade of elementary school, he started training in BC Sombor. His first basketball teacher was Gradimir Markovic, and he made great progress with Dejan Milojevic, a former member of the national team and the coach of Mega Leks. He believed in Nikola and thought that he could reach the glory of Pedja Stojakovic and Vlado Divac. Since 2014, he has been in a relationship with Natalija Maćešić. He is active on social networks where he posts shared pictures. In 2017, it became part of Nike’s global campaign called “Come out of nowhere”. Nikola is 2.11 m tall and weighs 113 kg. In Denver, every minute of it is planned. He wakes up at seven o’clock, and at eight he’s already on the field. He trains for about six hours a day and has meals every three hours which is why he has lost about 14 lbs. He used to drink 3 liters of Coca-Cola a day, and has stopped consuming it since he was in the NBA league. In his free time he watches cartoons, the series “Friends”, listens to Balašević, etc. He is a big animal lover and has a dog Bubica. The Nikolina Foundation donated 1.5 million dinars to sports clubs in Sombor. Title Representative titles 2013 silver medal from the World Cup for players under 20 2016. silver medal from the Olympic Games Individual titles 2014/15. declared the most useful player of the Aba League 2014/15. named the best young player of the Aba League 2015/16. included in the ideal five “newcomers” in the NBA league In 2018, he was named Serbian basketball player of the year In 2019, he was included in the Western Conference team for the NBA All-Star Game