Valanciunas on Jokic: “He’s at the facility early in the morning, getting shots up, putting in extra work. After every game, we’d hit the weight room. Every single game. He plays 40 minutes, I play my eight, and we’d still do exactly the same workout afterward. His work ethic is something else.”
“Yeah, people see one photo, some appearance somewhere, maybe they spot a guy having a beer or doing something else, and it’s very easy to form an opinion. But then there’s the work that goes on behind the scenes. Jokic is a perfect example of that,” he said on BasketNews Off the Record podcast. “Everyone says he has a beer here and there, enjoys himself, has hobbies outside of basketball and all that. But in my 14 years as a professional, I’ve never seen anyone work harder.”
“He’s at the facility early in the morning, getting shots up, putting in extra work. After every game, we’d hit the weight room. Every single game. He plays 40 minutes, I play my eight, and we’d still do exactly the same workout afterward. His work ethic is something else.”
“Sure, maybe he has a beer in the summer, maybe you see the videos with his horses and everything else. That’s his business,” JV explained. “But what people don’t see is the day-to-day grind. Everyone notices a video with horses, or a clip of me having a beer by a bonfire during a holiday. Yeah, I did that, and I’ll probably do it again. But when it’s time to work, it’s time to work. That’s it. You put your head down and get the job done.”
“I’m already pretty slow after games. I take my time, get cleaned up, head to the weight room, do everything I need to do. If we had an 8 p.m. game, I’d probably leave the arena around 11 p.m. Meanwhile, at 11, he’s still on the training table. Another massage, more recovery work, maybe another 45 minutes or even an hour focused on taking care of his body.”
“Whatever needs attention, he takes care of it. After the weight room, after the shower, after everything, he always has a routine. Everything is planned out. The crazy part is that he’s constantly working. During the season, it feels like he doesn’t have a life outside of basketball. That’s what it looks like. Work, work, work, work, work, work. Then summer comes and it’s a completely different story,”