Nothing with Nikola Jokic is ever contrived.
Not his palpable disappointment that Thursday’s championship parade delayed his return home to Serbia, nor his raw honesty about where basketball fits into his life.
“I think it’s not the most important thing in the world still,” Jokic said shortly after guiding the Nuggets to their first championship Monday night. “There is a bunch of things that I like, that I like to do. Probably that’s a normal thing. Nobody likes his job, or maybe they do. … They’re lying.”
His unique skill-set differentiates him on the court, but who he is as a person might be even more uncommon. Self-assured, satisfied, quiet, and private, Jokic is unlike any other NBA superstar. He’d rather soak in the sunshine by his pool than bask in any sort of limelight.
Amid the championship afterglow late Monday night, The Post surveyed a handful of characters in Jokic’s circle, seeking their favorite stories with the irreverent Serbian.
They yielded examples of diligence and loyalty, spontaneity and courage. As evidenced by how he feels about his job, there’s no one singular way to describe Jokic, and distilling him into just one story would be foolish.
Jamal Murray
The Nuggets’ proud Canadian was in the middle of the celebration Monday night, dousing and drenching anyone in his radius. Jokic, his favorite pick-and-roll partner, was less central to the festivities.
But somewhere amid the revelry, Jokic wrapped his battered arms around Murray and dragged him to the back channels of the locker room. With a champagne bottle tucked in Murray’s right hand, Jokic wrestled his point guard into the pool. Murray wasn’t going to go down without his dance partner.
“He just dunked me in the pool,” Murray said, proud of the fact that he’d dragged Jokic in with him.
Jokic throws Jamal Murray into the pool 😭 pic.twitter.com/h75zpzEgHm
— NBA (@NBA) June 13, 2023
The tandem made NBA history by becoming the first pair of teammates to each average at least 25 points, five rebounds and five assists throughout a postseason.
“I think that was a pretty cool moment,” Murray said. “That was our little celebration together.”
Josh Kroenke
Even early in his Nuggets career, there were glimpses of who Jokic could become. As a rookie in 2015, Kroenke said Jokic would be in the gym every day with his two brothers, Strahinja and Nemanja, working on his game. Josh’s dad, Stan, would be there, too.
“You saw this guy coming out of the ground and how hard he worked,” Kroenke said. “He was driven, he was focused, and you knew he had a chance to be a special player.”
Jokic made first-team All-Rookie. A season later, the Nuggets tapped him as their starting center. Little by little, the moments of brilliance compounded until the Nuggets committed to a max deal in the summer of 2018.
“A few people raised their eyebrows that you’re maxing a guy that’s not a household name,” Kroenke said.
There was a signing ceremony with Jokic and Will Barton before the crew flew to Las Vegas to celebrate the partnership.
“Nikola went to bed, but his two brothers came out,” Kroenke said. The Nikola-less crew, spearheaded by Strahinja and Nemanja, found themselves at a Vegas nightclub.
“Let’s just say nightclub bouncers have never been more intimidated in their entire life,” Kroenke said.
It was a touchstone moment for the family and the organization, Kroenke said. After that night, a foundation had been established.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Bruce Brown
Even in a jubilant state of champagne bottles and cigar wafts, Caldwell-Pope, the two-time NBA champion, was too savvy to say anything too revelatory about Jokic.
“I don’t think I can say the one I’m thinking about,” Caldwell-Pope said with a grin. “… Jokic is one player that knows how to have fun.”
Brown, on the other hand, offered a peak into their pregame routine that was trivial yet enlightening nonetheless.
The Nuggets’ super-sub is Jokic’s type of player: Tough, malleable and egoless. He’s been a staunch advocate for Brown ever since he signed with the Nuggets in free agency last season. The two sit close to each other in the home locker room, each occupying stalls on the right side of the room.
While eating his pregame snack, Brown got used to Jokic interrupting him.
“Our ritual before every game, he throws his gum wrapper at me,” Brown said. “That’s just our game ritual.”
DeAndre Jordan
Jokic’s backup was an integral piece to the Nuggets’ locker room even as his spot in the rotation fluctuated. When asked for a favorite Jokic story, Jordan seemed to be sifting through a catalog of them.
“Just him telling stories about crazy (stuff),” Jordan said.
When pressed, Jordan settled on an important moment in their relationship.
“I had a conversation with Joker around All-Star break about him being more vocal with guys,” Jordan said. “His thing was, ‘No, brother. That’s not me, I don’t do that. I’d rather just let my play do the leading.’
“I was very honest with him,” he said. “I told him, in a very adult way, ‘Forget that. We need you to be vocal because your voice is very powerful in our locker room.’ He said, ‘If I do it, and it doesn’t work, it’s your fault.’”
Jordan was OK with the deal. He went back to the well during Game 5 of the Finals when he implored Jokic to speak up during the close-out game.
“Yo, I need you to talk tonight,” he told him.
In the third quarter, as the Nuggets were settling for 3-pointers instead of attacking, cameras caught Jokic yelling, animatedly, at his teammates during a timeout.
“Sometimes I yell at them, sometimes I cheer them — but that’s part of the family, part of the team,” Jokic said.
Jordan smiled at the progress he’d made on his pupil.
“He was a leader tonight.”
Felipe Eichenberger
Denver’s Brazilian strength coach was the first person to truly believe in Jokic’s potential. He told him he could win MVP. He vowed that behind his growth, the Nuggets could be champions.
Eichenberger has had Jokic’s ear ever since he came into the NBA as a raw, unconditioned prospect. But what he told Jokic wasn’t different from what he told other young players.
“I believe in everyone,” Eichenberger said, citing current developmental prospects Peyton Watson and Jack White.
So how did he get to Jokic? Eichenberger said it was trust.
“I always tell him when we are working, ‘I’m not here to be your friend.’”
Jokic understood that everything Eichenberger insisted on, from dieting to lifting after games to stretching, was for his benefit. That trust was established after Jokic learned Eichenberger was invested.
“Going to his place from Year 1 where he is not Nikola Jokic,” Eichenberger said. “In Year 1, when we are driving a red car that only fits three people, we have six people in it. … He had a little buggy car. Those are little things that mean a lot to him. Like being family. He likes everything being family.”
In the moment, Eichenberger said, Jokic probably wouldn’t appreciate what they’d just accomplished. But later that night, whenever the celebration ended, he would.
“When he puts his head on the pillow, he’ll be like, ‘Wow, I came from Serbia, from Sombor, a small place,” Eichenberger said. “What I’ve done, what we’ve done as a team,’ … I think will mean a lot.”
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