2023-06-13 11:53:49
BarcelonaNeither LeBron James nor Kevin Durant nor Stephen Curry. The player who dominates the NBA is Nikola Jokic, a 28-year-old Serbian who has guided the Denver Nuggets to their first ever championship ring. The versatility of the player, who controls all aspects of the game, has been decisive. Pass like the best playmakers, shoot like the specialists and rebound like the competition’s greatest interior dominators.
After closing the fifth game against the Miami Heat (94-89) with 28 points and 16 rebounds, the Serbian was chosen as the best player (MVP) of the finals. His performance at play-off he has broken all the records: he has broken the triple-double record with 10 and has become the first player to lead the NBA playoffs in points, rebounds and assists. “We’ve made it, now we can go home. There are many important things in life,” he says humbly.
“I’m not a particularly optimistic guy, but today I felt a special energy, and that gave me hope that we could do something,” says Jokic, who next season will be paid $46.5 million (about 43.1 million euros). Since coming to the NBA through the back door, the Serbian has continued to evolve his game, which is now an example of offensive production and intelligence. “If you want to succeed, you need to be bad and then be good. Then, when you’re good, you need to fail. When you fail, you try to correct things. Experience is not what happens to you, but how you react to the things that happen to you. they’re happening. We lost the first and second games, but who remembers that now? It’s like a process, a journey you have to complete,” he sums up.
Raised in Sombor, Jokic had a childhood like any other Serbian marque. In fact, every time he has a vacation, he comes home to spend a few days with his family. As a child he was overweight. One of the reasons was his addiction to fizzy drinks. “As a child I drank more than three liters of coke a day. The truth is that I miss it,” he confesses. In addition, he had half a kilo of breakfast pastry (a Turkish empanada spice) every morning.
Barça rejected his signing
When he was only 19 years old, in 2014, Barça tried to sign him, but at the last minute the Barcelona club rejected his inclusion. The pivot played for Mega Vizura in Belgrade. “Representatives from Barça came to see me in a home game against Cedevita, but after a very bad performance they withdrew the offer. They expected a little more from me. At halftime of the game, my coach told me ask: “Who are you?” Jokic remembers. Arturas Karnisovas, current general manager of the Chicago Bulls and then Tim Connelly’s right-hand man with the Colorado franchise, was key in the negotiations that allowed Jokic to land in the NBA in 2015 after being drafted 41st overall in the draft.
“Statistically they are the most passing team in the NBA. It’s an upbeat style of play and fun to watch. They have a very clear personality when they play and they create a lot of play from Nikola’s position Jokic. This is an atypical characteristic that defines them. Despite the injuries, there are many players who have taken a step forward, and this speaks very well of the work of the first coach, Michael Malone”, analyzes Jordi Fernández, current assistant coach of the Sacramento Kings and former member of the coaching staff of the Denver Nuggets.
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