If you enjoy reading NBA Players’ biographies, here’s the one you shouldn’t miss, our very own Nikola Jokic Biography…
Nikola Jokic Biography: Professional Career
Let’s start with Jokic’s best stats:
- NBA All-Star (2019)
- All-NBA First Team (2019)
- NBA All-Rookie First Team (2016)
- Serbian Player of the Year (2018)
- Adriatic League MVP (2015)
- ABA League Top Prospect (2015)
2012-2015 = Mega Basket
Everything started for Jokic when he was part of KK Vojvodina Srbijagas, a pro basketball club from Novi Sad, Serbia.
He became a dominant figure for that team, and that immediately raised the interest of larger clubs leading Jokic to sign with Mega Vizura; a club from Belgrade. He played his first season with the junior team. By the 2013-14 season, he was already part of the senior team, playing a total of 13 games in the Serbian League, and 25 more games at the Adriatic League.
2014-15 Season
In 2014, Jokic got selected as the 41st overall pick at the 2014 NBA draft, but despite this, he remained in Europe for an extra season.
During this time, Ratko Varda left Mega Vizura, and that allowed Jokic to assume as the leader of the team. And, after some great performances, he ended up getting the MVP of the Month honors for February 2015 at the Adriatic League, and subsequently also obtained the league’s regular-season MVP and the ABA League Top Prospect.
He parted ways with the team after Mega Vizura got eliminated by Partizan Belgrade in the semifinals of the Serbian League.
2015-16 Season = NBA
A season after being selected for the NBA, Jokic finally started playing with the Nuggets. He finished his first professional NBA season third in the NBA Rookie of the Year Award, and also earned the NBA All-Rookie First team honors. His good performances during this season also allowed Jokic to finish second in the voting for the 2017 Assist of the Year and 2017 NBA Most Improved Player Awards.
2016-17 Season
Jokic closed this season with 6 triple-doubles, ranking fourth in the league, just behind Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and LeBron James.
2017-18 Season
The player from Serbia came up with 23 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in what ended up being a 120-113 victory over the Pistons on March 15, 2018. This was his 8th triple-double of the season, and these numbers allowed Jokic to set the most triple-doubles by a Denver player in a single season. He was second to Fat Lever, who came up with nine during the 1988-89 season.
2018-19 Season
At this point, the Nuggets were satisfied with Jokic’s performance, and that led them to offer the Serbian a 5-year extension worth $148 million. Jokic didn’t disappoint Denver fans getting his first All-Star selection as a Western Conference reserve, a first for this franchise since Carmelo Anthony back in 2011.
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