Come out of nowhere: Nikola Jokic

Oakland, California, June 19th, 2016. One of the most amazing NBA games 7 is about to end and LeBron James, with the speed of the wind and the strength of a hurricane, nails Iguodala’s ball, destined to get meekly into the basket, to the rim. Fox Sports Ohio’s commentator goes crazy, pronouncing some words destined to become part of the wine and gold franchise’s history: “Blocked by James! James out of nowhere skies to the rim!”. And by these very words was inspired the new Nike campaign, presented a few months ago with one of the best commercials ever. “Come out of nowhere”, for everyone that, just like King James, dream to become someone when they’re still nobody.

That’s the kind of story Nikola Jokic had. Born February 19th, 1995, in Sombor, in Vojvodina province, in former Yugoslavia. A difficult childhood, in one of the least cozy places in the world at the time, but still spent playing basketball with the two older brothers. “My family are big fans of the game. We had a hoop in our two-room apartment and played basketball on a court close by. Even as a baby with my pacifier, I'd watch my brothers play for hours". And Nemanja and Strahinja, 11 and 13 years older than him, always gave Nikola and hard time, beating him hardly as soon as he was old enough to play with them. Nikola found escape in horse racing: “I loved horses and wanted to be a stable boy”.

Then, it comes basketball, even if Nikola’s path have been different that you might think. “I hated my first practice. “I was a bit short and overweight back then, but my dad was such a big fan of the game, he forced me to go. Because of my height, I was told to play Point Guard, which helped my passing skills”. Then things started to improve, practice after practice. Jokic starts to play in the minor leagues, but after few months he’s asked to join KK Mega Basket, the Belgrade’s club. “It wasn’t easy leaving home, but my brothers gave me the confidence I needed".

To say that “the rest is history” is maybe a little premature, as Nikola is just 21 years old. July 26th, 2014, with the 41st overall pick of the NBA Draft, he was selected by the Denver Nuggets. In next year’s July, he signed his first professional NBA contract and in summer 2016, after his rookie year, he can already count on an NBA All-Rookie First Team honor and a Rio Olympics’ silver medal, won with the Serbian team. “I was sleeping when the Nuggets drafted me. My brother called to tell me. I thought it was a dream and went back to sleep. When it finally sank in everything changed. Everything”.