What makes Nikola Jokic so good?
Scott Morris | June 12, 2023
Nikola Jokic, also known as “the Joker” is a Serbian professional basketball player who currently plays for the Denver Nuggets of the NBA. Born and raised in Serbia, Jokic developed a passion for basketball in his childhood days playing with his older brothers. His brothers, Strahinja and Nemanja, also played basketball but at national and college levels, respectively. Racing a horse as a child, he competed as an amateur; he still holds a similar passion for horse racing even now. He rose to dominance after playing youth basketball for Vojvodina Srbijagas, this is when he got recognition from renowned teams. Jokic signed a deal with Mega Vizura in the summer of 2012. He played 5 games in the Serbian League at the age of 17, then followed by 13 more games in the Serbian League during the 2013-14 season. In between, he also appeared in over 25 games of the Adriatic League.
In the NBA draft of 2014, he was selected by the Denver Nuggets with the 41st overall pick but continued in the Serbian League before getting eliminated in the 2014-15 season by Partizan Belgrade. After that he decided to go to the NBA and play for the Denver Nuggets, and as the years went by he became one of the best centers in the league.
Initial career
His rookie season was good as he recorded career-high points against the Raptors and finished third in the Rookie of the Year award. Next season, he continued from where he left off, although played as a bench-player for fourteen games but later became a starter as he showed why he is one of the best in the league. He finished second in the most-improved Player award and the Assist of the Year award.
In the 2017-18 season, Denver again did not qualify for the playoffs, but Jokic started to become a franchise player. 2018-19 was the season when Jokic finally got to experience a playoff game in the NBA, they finished with a 54-28 record and were second in the Western Conference. The Nuggets defeated the Spurs in the first round to qualify for the conference semifinals but could not get the better of the Portland Trailblazers. Jokic was selected for All-star and was also in All-NBA’s first team. In the bubble season, Denver made the conference finals but then faced the eventual winners, the Lakers. The Nuggets were defeated 4-1 and their title hopes were dead.
Two MVPs and the current season
In the 2020-21 season, Jokic won his first league MVP award and reached the conference semifinals but was swept by Phoenix Suns. Next year, Jokic won the MVP again as he managed to average over twenty-five points, thirteen rebounds and seven assists per game. Then there is the season that is going on as of now, it is Miami versus the Nuggets in the Finals and Denver leads the series 3-1. Jokic is performing at the highest level in the postseason and if he continues to do this, he can lead Denver to their first-ever title.
