The NBA is full of players who are earning millions to keep fans locked in and entertained. While their gameplay is, of course, important, folks also can’t seem to get enough of the drama that happens off the court. From the rampant LeBron James cheating rumors to Brittany and Patrick Mahomes’ tasteless outfits at the NBA finals and secrets the NBA tried to hide, there’s plenty of juicy gossip to keep basketball fans talking.
Yet, there are some players who want nothing to do with the headlines. In fact, right at the top of the list of stars who hate being famous is Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić. Despite his multiple MVP titles and huge NBA contracts, Jokić has tried his best to lead a normal life. Since becoming a household name, he has struggled with fame and non-stop criticism, and he works hard to stay out of the spotlight. But it’s far from the first time he has faced adversity. Growing up in Serbia, Jokić experienced trauma that no child should go through, and yet, he didn’t just survive, he ultimately thrived. This is the tragic real life story of NBA great Nikola Jokić.
Nikola Jokić grew up in an active war zone
Nikola Jokić has made no secret of his deep-rooted love for his home country: Serbia. In 2023, for example, after the Denver Nuggets won the NBA Finals, he couldn’t wait to get back home to reunite with his parents and watch his family’s race horses compete. But his childhood in Serbia wasn’t in the least bit glamorous, nor was it easy. Jokić hails from Sombor, a small town home to just under 71,000 people as of 2022. Growing up, he lived in a two-bedroom apartment with both of his parents, his two brothers, and their grandma. Needless to say, space was at a premium. However, the real hardship came from the country’s unstable political situation.
In 1991, the Soviet Union fell, ushering in nearly a decade of fighting in the region. Initially, there was the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which comprised Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1992, only Serbia and Montenegro remained in the alliance, becoming the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Clashes over borders and between various ethnic groups were prevalent, and hundreds of thousands of lives were lost.
In an effort to end the regional wars, in 1999, NATO allies bombed Serbia for 11 straight weeks. Jokić was just 4 years old, but he still vividly recalls that time. “I remember things like sirens, bomb shelters, always turning off the lights,” he told Bleacher Report in 2017. “We practically lived in the dark. Even at, like, 9 a.m., everything was turned off.”
Despite his success, he continues to be homesick
In 2024, Nikola Jokić was crowned NBA MVP for an impressive third time, solidifying his status as one of the best to ever play the game. Yet, despite his success, he hasn’t fully embraced life as an American sports pro. As he explained to Bleacher Report in 2017, since moving to Denver in 2015, his native Serbia had never been far from his mind. “I’m homesick,” he admitted. “I want to go home right now.”
First, there are the people he misses. Yes, he was sharing an apartment with his two brothers and his high school sweetheart, Natalija Macesic (whom he met as a teen in Serbia), but there were two others his heart ached for. “I am the third kid and I am a little closer with my parents than [my brothers] are,” he mused.
Then, there’s the city of Sombor itself. A place so special that a photo of its main street, Kralja Petra, was hung in the Jokić apartment. “That’s your night out,” brother Nemanja Jokić explained. “Go to the main street, park the car and get ice cream.” Nikola also fondly thinks of the green spaces, the canal, and the fact that the city is so compact you can never get lost. “After my career is over, I’m gonna go back there,” he assured. “It’s super slow — not too much going on — but you have everything.”
Jokić’s beloved ex-coach died suddenly
When Nikola Jokić was 17 years old, he moved to Belgrade, Serbia and started playing pro with his very first team: KK Mega Basket of the Adriatic Basketball Association (ABA). While there, he was coached by Dejan Milojevic, a former pro baller who found his own success in the United States as the Golden State Warriors’ assistant coach. Milojevic was a key part of Jokić’s formative years on the court. Under his tutelage, he was crowned MVP of the ABA and drafted by the Denver Nuggets in 2014. The two clearly shared a special camaraderie because Jokić actually chose to keep playing under Milojevic for an extra season before moving to Denver in 2015.
When Milojevic died suddenly in January 2024 after suffering a heart attack, his ex-pupil and friend was hit hard. Jokić remembered his former coach on Instagram with a simple message written in Serbian, which translated to, “Deki, rest in peace! Condolences to the family!” A week later, he was asked about the loss and was hesitant to speak on the matter out of respect. “I don’t want to make a circus of it,” he told reporters, including Daily Camera, but shared, “My whole family was shocked … I love his whole family. I love him.”
Critics keep trying to tear down his accomplishments
There’s no denying that Nikola Jokić is one of the best players in the NBA, or is there? In 2023, after Jokić was crowned Finals MVP, former pro and coach Isiah Thomas told ESPN, “It puts him in the legendary category for what he’s done statistically in the Finals.” But not everyone felt the same way.
NBA alum Gilbert Arenas criticized the decision, telling the “Nightcap” podcast, “Jokić is probably, statistically, when it comes to overall game … the worst MVP winner in the last 40 years.” He doubled down on that sentiment after Jokić won his third NBA MVP title in 2024, slamming, “Are we going to ignore the fact that he is not the go-to guy when it counts?” Arenas was adamant that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should have gotten the award, and Shaquille O’Neal agreed. “Joker is the best big man in a long time,” O’Neal told TMZ Sports. “I just said that I thought Shai Gilgeous-Alexander should’ve gotten the MVP.”
However, the criticism hasn’t just come from fellow athletes. It seems that NBA fans are also against Jokić more often than they’re with him. As Fox Sports Radio host Rob Parker argued, it’s because “he doesn’t fit in with everything that’s the NBA.” According to Parker, Jokić is too different from other all-stars. “He treats this job like a nine-to-five … He can’t wait for the season to be over; he can’t wait to go back to his homeland,” he said.
Jokić has struggled with the dark side of fame
Basketball fans haven’t always been kind to Nikola Jokić, so it’s perhaps no surprise that he doesn’t love the spotlight. Sitting down with the “Curious Mike” podcast in 2023, Jokić opened up about the downsides of fame. Namely, the constant attention and scrutiny. “I really don’t like this life,” he admitted. “It just feels sad – whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you.” Calling the behavior rude, the MVP said his dream would be to lead a private life and he plans to do just that — eventually.
“When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me, and I really wish my kid, or kids, in the future really remember me as a dad, not as a basketball player,” he shared. Going into further detail about his retirement plans, Jokić said that all he dreams about is disconnecting and spending quality time with family and friends. “To not have a phone, that’s another big goal of mine,” he told podcast host and teammate Michael Porter Jr.
He would also like to carve out time for his other passion: horse racing. “That’s kind of my secret goal,” he shared. “Travel the world or Europe and race horses.” He’s already well on his way to accomplishing that, as he owns horses in several countries, including Italy, Sweden, and France.
Jokić has been injured so many times, he’s ‘used to it’
Injuries are, unfortunately, a big part of being a pro athlete, and Nikola Jokić knows all about getting hurt. From 2017 through April 2024, Fox Sports tallied 43 injuries, many of them related to his hip, back, and wrist. In early 2024, Jokić repeatedly struggled with left hip and right wrist inflammation, but he played through it.
In March, he told reporters that his wrist bothered him every time he tried to take a shot, but he wasn’t about to bow out. “I’m used to it, dealing with the pain,” he mused. “It’s kind of normal for me.” Proof of just how serious the pain must have been, Denver Nuggets head coach Michael Malone actually told SI, “I was surprised he played tonight.” However, he conceded that “Nikola is a guy who plays through a lot of things that most guys wouldn’t play through.” Indeed, even when the discomfort persisted, Jokić kept going. In April, he assured reporters, per Eurohoops, “I feel it, but I can play with it.”
It seems Jokić has never really known when to take a step back. In 2022, he suffered a right knee contusion after he knocked knees with the Utah Jazz’s Rudy Gobert, and he still wanted to play. It was actually Coach Malone who had to force him to take a break. “He said ‘It feels a little weak’ and I just shut him down,” Malone told NBA.com. “I took the decision.”
