At long last, the truth can be told: When Nikola Jokic came to America in 2015, his fondest wish was to win a woman’s heart rather than chase a basketball dream.
“I never chased the Nuggets,” Jokic said Saturday.
I asked Jokic to reminisce how he got here, averaging a triple double (29.9 points! 13.3 rebounds! 10.3 assists!) in the NBA playoffs as the most unlikely sports hero Denver has ever stood up to cheer. His answer revealed why this Joker is the most humble superstar you’ll ever meet.
She is now the wife of a two-time MVP and the mother of Jokic’s young daughter. But in 2015, Natalija Macesic was an accomplished volleyball player and outstanding student who had left her high-school sweetheart back in Europe to attend college in the United States.
Jokic missed her. Desperately.
They were separated by the Atlantic Ocean for more than six months. Natalija played volleyball at Seminole State. Jokic showed promise in the Adriatic League after being taken at No. 41 in the second round by the Nuggets a year earlier. He was a 6-foot-11, 284-pound center. But, more importantly, Jokic was a 20-year-old young man in love.
“At that time, I never thought I was going to be in the NBA,” Jokic said.
Natalija was here, in the USA. Jokic was there, in Europe. He packed his bags.
“We were young … and it was a nice, nice time for us to get together,” Jokic said.
Love won. And Nuggets Nation is eternally grateful.
An amazing 129 triple doubles later, Jokic can make a strong case for providing the most bang for the buck of any draft choice in league history.
But the first step of Jokic’s incredible, eight-year journey from being a pudgy pro prospect to the towering centerpiece of Denver’s first trip to the NBA Finals was motivated largely by closing the 5,500-mile gap between Somber, Serbia, and Seminole, Okla., in a long-distance relationship with his girlfriend.
Think that’s an overstatement? Think again.
Back in 2015, Jokic already had a brother living in America, with another sibling also ready to make himself at home here. After calling the Nuggets to let them know he wanted to join them for training camp, his girlfriend moved to Denver, transferring to Metro State.
While Jokic would average 10 points and seven rebounds during his first campaign with the Nuggets, the most gratifying aspect of his rookie season was to establish his own little slice of Serbian heaven in Colorado with the people who mattered most to him.
“I was more happy to be around them than to be in the NBA,” said Jokic, who insists basketball never has been and probably never will be the main thing in his life.
Although he arrived in the USA uncertain he could be a prime-time player, Jokic now wonders if the happy reunion with his girlfriend and brothers was a sign the stars were aligned for good NBA fortune. While many athletes dream of living life large, it’s the small joys of dinner conversation that make him happy. He gladly turned off the television, skipping out on Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Celtics and Heat, to take a walk with his wife and daughter.
Coming to America was a mission of love for Jokic.
And know what’s really cool?
“He’s never changed,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.
“We all see it, in all walks of life. How does fame and fortune affect you? For most people, it goes to their head and they become something different. Sometimes they forget where they’ve come from and who helped them get to where they’ve gotten to. The one thing I love about Nikola? Forget basketball, it’s as a young man who’s a proud father and a husband. Through all the success, the MVPs, the max contracts, all that stuff, he’s still the same guy. I marvel at that. I’ve been around this league and this game a long time and that’s a rarity in this business.”
Traveling in the way-back machine to the days of the red, white and blue ball of the ABA, generations of Denver die-hards have endured 56 years of bad bounces, draft busts and playoff frustration before their prayers were answered and Jokic led the Nuggets to the NBA Finals.
The Joker is the perfect hero for this crazy-good underdog story.
While we stood on the court prior to a victory that punched the Nuggets’ ticket to the Finals, franchise owner Stan Kroenke thanked his lucky stars and told me Denver, in the lost time zone, far from the NBA bright lights of Los Angeles or Boston, is the perfect place for Jokic.
Then Josh Kroenke, the son of Stan and an accomplished hoopster back in the day, added the benediction: “And Nikola is the perfect superstar for Denver.”
Can I get an “Amen!” from Nuggets Nation?
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