Getty Image / Hyoung Chang / The Denver Post
The 2023-24 NBA season starts in less than three weeks and Nikola Jokic will begin his quest to repeat as NBA Finals MVP and bring another NBA Championship to the city of Denver.
With the NBA Preseason underway, Nikola Jokic spoke with reporters earlier this week and told Jacob Tobey of 9 News Denver how this might have been one of the worst Summers since he started playing in the NBA.
The reporter asked Jokic “was this past Summer the most fun you’ve had since playing in the NBA?” This was under the presumption that since Nikola won the NBA Finals MVP and his first NBA Championship that it was a Summer full of joyous celebrations, which it was. But Jokic immediately shook his head and said this Summer was “actually opposite.”
Why was this Summer so bad for Nikola Jokic?
If there is one thing Jokic loves doing it is ANYTHING other than play basketball. Saying “I think it’s actually opposite” and adding that it was “because we played two and a half extra months, and recovery and everything.” He did add “it was good, but I had Summers (where I had) more fun.”
"Was this past summer the most fun you've had since being in the NBA? Nah, I think it's actually opposite." -Nikola Jokic after winning his first NBA Championship, via @JacobRTobey 😅😂 #9sports #Nuggets pic.twitter.com/dEs2YLkUq8
— 9NEWS Sports Denver (@9NEWSSports) October 2, 2023
We KNOW that Jokic had a good Summer because he was often seen on camera enjoying himself. Nikola was grinning from ear to ear at a horse race back in Serbia, his first public appearance of the Summer after the NBA season. He was later seen dancing on a table at a club in Serbia. It was a good Summer.
At the same press conference, Jokic was asked if he knew about Coach Prime. He shook his head ‘no’.
But if there is one thing Nikola Jokic that could have made this past Summer better for Jokic it would have been more Summer. And personally, I think we should commend him for being open about how much he enjoys living his life outside of work.
The Nuggets are amongst the favorites to win the 2023-24 NBA Championship (+550). Jokic has won the NBA MVP 2 of the past 3 years and has been an All-Star every year since 2019. It will be interesting to see if his demeanor changes at all following Denver’s title.