[Ćuk] Nikola Jokic when asked about the Peyton Watson trade: “I’m happy for Peyton, he deserved it, we will miss his energy and skill. I don’t think about season yet, we have to play this, but it’s gonna be OK”.
People will deadass think this man doesn’t love basketball and all he does is play basketball even during the offseason
Some people think if you don’t have that “Mamba mentality” of Kobe or MJ it means you don’t really love basketball. But guys like Jokic and Tim Duncan prove you can love the game and be a great leader without being a loud asshole.
Tim Duncan is Jokic’s favourite player growing up.. so it makes sense if Jokic is truly faithful to one team. He’ll be the most paid NBA player in history next year once he signs the extension.
It’s why I feel he’ll be a Denver Nugget forever.
He already got a ring, what does one more in some random city mean vs a literal billion. Can’t see him leaving.
Problem is he got it while he was entering his prime. The best time to get it is right before you leave your prime (a la Dirk) cause then you can retire in peace and just chill the next couple seasons and everyone is cool with it.
Would him going to Miami and winning a ring on a super team really mean anything for his career? He can literally make 100 million a year if he just chills as is.
No….. but it would sure mean a lot to me.
To us.
Players with MVP and Finals MVP
1 ring
2 rings
3 rings
There’s levels to this. And if Jokic teams up with Giannis and joins him in Miami, win at least 2 rings, it puts both of them in the absolute upper echelon of the NBA pantheon. It’s just a matter if he’d rather do it for \(480M/5yrs in Denver or \)420M/5yrs in Miami.
He saw what happened to Steph Curry in GSW in the past 4 years, alternating second round exits and getting eliminated in the play-in
Yet no-one puts Willis Reed and Bill Walton above Jokic even now.
He also probably doesn’t give a shit about the levels. Lebron might be chasing MJ’s ghost, dudes on podcasts might be obsessing about who’s the GOAT or who’s top 5 vs top 20.
Other guys couldn’t care less. They play the game because they’re good at it and they love it and if they win a ring that’s awesome, you’ve reached the pinnacle of the sport, if they don’t, they’re still content with being an all-time great and beloved in their city and home country and being rich beyond imagination.
If his life is going to be more fulfilled by living out his days on a horse farm with 1 ring and having a reputation for being loyal and top-20 of all time than joining a superteam he doesn’t care about so he can be considered a ring-chasing top-10… so be it. You might care about the levels to it but he very well might not and that’s fine.
So many other players choose money over rings and get shit on for it.
I honestly don’t care why players choose to stay/go. It’s their lives. It’s their decision if they want to maximize earnings, go win championships, or stay and raise a family in one place. The only annoying part is when players are dishonest or misrepresent why they are leaving/staying.
The last part is the least annoying for me because that’s just how the media works and they have to say the right thing to appease certain people. That’s just life.
But when two players do the same thing but somehow get viewed differently it’s weird.
Players should 100% go get the bag tho. I love hoops and it’s entertainment for us but it’s also just a job for them so I get it.
I’m all for it. This shit is work at the end of the day. None of us are taking a 25% pay cut because we really like our job position.
I’m with you. I just think it’s funny how players get judged differently for similar actions lol.
That’s because for most of us the primary goal of our job is money. 40 mil for a great situation could easily trump 50 mil if you have reason to believe all your hard work will be wasted on a hopeless team.
You also have to consider how much of a lifestyle difference we’d have from losing 25% of our income while it is way more different in raw monetary value for someone like Jokic but has a much smaller effect on lifestyle than a regular person making 25% less. To be clear I’m absolutely not saying these players should feels obligated to giving up money for team success or flexibility but it’s much more feasible for them to do than it is for a regular person
Of everyone in the nba he might care the least. The very quick look i took shows his home town of Sombor having a gdp under $2b usd. He could literally have that himself.
Yeah this guy will go down in franchise history as their best player ever… He’s royalty in Denver for sure.
Think the difference there is the Spurs were perennial contenders. I think after this offseason, it’s worth questioning Denver’s ability to keep a competitive team around Jokic. How much losing is he willing to tolerate?
Not saying you’re not right, it could happen. But if they can get 6 firsts and young players to kickstart a rebuild down the line while sending him somewhere he could win, he’ll still be Denver royalty.
Not many orgs can be properly run like the Spurs are..
Nuggets don’t do too bad of a job.
Tim Duncan is Jokic’s favourite player growing up
He is not, Jokic’s favourite player growing up was Tracy McGrady.
It’s Tmac, Duncan and Boris Diaw. But he praised Duncan a lot.
3 Spurs legends
I hate it I don’t give a crap about this. Be a fucking Denver for life.
Who wants to be in Denver for life?
Denver sucks. The organization sucks and it’s a waste.
They really tricked people into thinking being a jackass means you care more.
Jokic has been a jackass plenty of times.
Never to his teammates
Give us one time. I only remember once, Cam Payne swat. Aside from that nothing more
When the fastest he ran all night was to grab jaden mcdaniels’ jersey.
The reaction is completely justifiable. Unless you never played ball
oldschool is a fitting name, you can’t stop shit on court.
Ironically, in the “old school” times like the 80s, no one gave a fuck about someone taking a shot at the end of the game.
Will outscore though
Maybe if he didn’t try to stat pad his assists at the end of the game I’d understand but once he swung it to Murray for the shot it was fair game
Brother they had to change the rule because Jokic kept kicking the ball out of bounds so he wouldn’t have to run back on a fast break lol.
If you’re not a psychopath to teammates = you dont want it enough
Tim Duncan defenitely didn’t want Gold Medal in Olympics. had to bring in Kobe to redeem them
Jokic works just as hard as Bryant did if not harder
someone tell fat boy to work on his defense
Someone tell Kobe to pass the ball every once in awhile
…oh wait guess ya can’t
I don’t think it’s the asshole part because no one doubts LeBron, Curry, and KD love it. I think it is more so how he doesn’t care much about or really show a strong interest in anything off-the-court. He does not care about the records he breaks, he does not comment on things about legacy, probably never answered hypotheticals like “who is your all time starting 5?”, and he doesn’t have a story like Hakeem deciding to dominate David Robinson due to feeling snubbed, etc.
I am sure some think he literally doesn’t care but I imagine many people feel he treats it as just a job- but obviously between him willingly playing Euroleague and how hard he has worked on his craft, it’s silly to say he doesn’t love it. You don’t get as good as he does by not caring.
My thing is it’s like treated as a disease if you’re like semi-ok with losing, like if you acknowledge the reality of it and just move on. Like you can love basketball and be insanely competitive and realize losing is a part of the game you love.
I agree with you. I was just explaining a reason why people feel that way that I have inferred.
Duncan didn’t have to do that because Popovich abused the fuck outta the players lol
bb-b-b-bbut muh classy Spurs culture
I agree with you, but people don’t say Jokic doesn’t care about basketball because he’s not a loud asshole. They say it because he speaks as if he doesn’t care about basketball.
Some examples: He said the offseason after winning a championship was the worst offseason because he had to play 2 extra months. He has said anyone who says they like their job is lying. He generally just seems more excited to talk about horses than basketball.
The jokes about him not liking basketball are coming from that kinda stuff. Not from the fact that he’s not a loud asshole.
Me when I spread misinformation
It’s absolutely hilarious how those first few comments are painting this scenario.
Also funny with how often Jokic shows that side of him on the court. The dude is waaaaaay more animated than Duncan ever was and shows his competitive emotion all the damn time. He’s not even close to Duncan stoic.
Yep. But one interview with him wearing his Serbian jersey erases all that.
I mean it’s his fault the assumption isn’t unfounded he pretty much always goes and acts like he doesn’t care in whatever media he does and shows little joy even when he won.
because he gets asked shit questions ngl, I think American media are so bad at creating meaningful stories, they want the biggest headline
You should read The Stranger by Albert Camus
I refuse to read books.
Go watch a YouTube summary and put a video of subway surfers playing beneath it. Put both on 2.5x speed
You don’t become one of the best players of all time without loving the game. Especially as someone that doesn’t have insane natural athleticism to coast on. He put in the work to become an offensive engine.
ong i don’t care im just tryna hate im the number one jokic hater
That’s so cool
And has won and done more than 99% of the league despite his only physical gift being his height. Guys like Shaq didn’t care and were gifted, Jokic is just a tall guy who wants to play basketball and watch horses race.
You can’t say he acts like he doesn’t are and all he does is play like the best basketball player in the world multiple years in a row, he just hates the media and circus that comes with playing,
This is like when I asked the top classmate how he found the time to study for all of those finals and he claims he doesn’t study .
I used to be one of those students. It’s not that they don’t study. It’s when the teachers explain it, they understand it right away so there is no need to study.
I think it’s case by case. Some of them work like crazy and some of them are naturally like that, tho there is always a point where natural talent stops being enough, atleast in what I study
Hit me hard when i failed my first course in at university. Multi-year existential crisis.
A lot of them also THINK about what they hear and ingest it that way, they’re not just passively listening
Yea, I agree. Basic algebra maths were so easy for me until we get to Calculus, then everything becomes hieroglyphs.
same lol
Or they’re bright, but absolutely terrible at sitting down and studying, so they end up wasting that time instead. It’s easier to just say you don’t study.
MPJ mentioned in an interview that Jokic was the most professional player on the Nuggets. He puts in an insane amount of work. People only see the slightly chubby dude who doesn’t seem to care, but the guy lives and breathes basketball - when he’s not with the horses, of course.
Jokic doesn’t care about fame. He’s an athlete and he’s one of the best to ever do it. He’s not a celebrity. That’s the difference between him and players who seek attention with off-court bullshit and “image campaigns” or sponsorship deals.
Jokic also doesn’t plant trees. He doesn’t even pretend to plant trees. Be like Jokic.
I think he loves the basketball and the competition. I don’t think he loves being a celebrity
Exactly what I was thinking haha. He loves basketball, competing and being rich but he really doesn’t care about the media stuff or the celebrity side of it haha
He would be fine if they played in empty gyms, make the same amount of money and got to race his horses
Basketball and horse racing. His mind has little time for anything else.
I think it’s mostly a meme
That narrative has been ridiculous, there is no way to get that good without being obsessed. There’s plenty of footage of him working his ass off. He’s just not a media whore.
Feels like he just doesn’t like the fame part.
They’ll parrot what they’ve read or heard without processing what they’re actually seeing play out.
It’s his career that he wants to excel at, doesn’t have to love it to do it.
but it helps, and none of us are in a position to know what exactly he “wants” or “loves”. this is just offseason armchair psychology.
He’s always been about Euro ball and repping his country.
NBA just pays the bills
This is the dumb shit the the op was referencing if anybody was wondering
Really want a superstar to just rip their team for fucking up the offseason for once. No PR speak, just “These bums keep letting talent go and I’m in my 30s, where’s the drive to compete with me as their centerpiece? ” verbal equivalent of dropping a match on kerosine
I keep getting downvoted but it’s been obvious that DEN’s FO has been holding them back since they lost Bruce.
Eh it just kind of shows how inflexible you truly become when you have 2 max players, and other quality, expensive role players.
I’m sure they could have made better decisions, but I’m not sure how many moves at the margins would have truly “fixed” the Nuggets to make them better contenders.
Reality is that they fielded good teams and lost to better ones in competitive series. There’s only so much you can do, and while misses on guys like Braun’s contract play a role, those also weren’t awful decisions at the time.
Like I’ll gladly blame Nico if Dallas doesn’t see a deep playoff run for a decade. But the Nuggets took sensible swings on guys like Cam Johnson, or got stuck with guys like AG who are simply better than any trade alternative they could get talent wise.
If you’re reaching G7 against the eventual champs like they did 2 years ago, it’s clear they had the talent to actually compete.
It’s really frustrating how everyone expects their FO to somehow do better when they have a superstar. There are 29 other teams that are all trying to win (to varying degrees). It’s not like the Nuggets can just pull out another stop and build a way better roster than they had been. All the moves people complain about mostly just look bad in hindsight
Huh? They couldn’t retain Bruce under any circumstance.
If you paid some attention, the FO of Denver held them back since 2019!
Where are you downvoted for saying that? It’s said in every thread
Or maybe he didn’t want an openly disgruntled player on his team and he’s legitimately happy for him?
Steph got 4 rings and Lacob still won’t spend a single unprotected pick to help him.
At least nuggets won’t trade Jokic. Moving teams isn’t fun
He won’t spend a single unprotected pick because there’s no viable way to turn things around for the Dubs anymore.
It’s the harsh reality, but the Dubs window really closed after their last ring when Poole’s play clearly was an outlier, Kuminga/Moody didn’t pan out to the level they needed, and Wiseman was a bust.
Go trade firsts and Butler’s corpse for AD or Kawhi—they’re still a first or second round exit who have now just delayed their rebuild. I can attest to this considering the Clippers STILL don’t have puck control (and won’t until 2030) as we made our last ditch effort for Harden.
I promise you that I’d rather have just seen us flounder than us being moderately good first round exits.
Yep, trading for Butler was the big move. Now warriors have no flexibility and will be mediocre at best until he’s healthy.
I mean, even if he’s healthy, they’re still likely a mediocre team that nobody wants to particularly play because dealing with Steph just sucks lol.
But Butler was a sensible move, as was getting Yax. The Warriors have been incredibly fine with their moves, they just don’t have many options.
They probably should have traded Kuminga earlier (I thought the Porzingis move was awful), but outside of that, I don’t think there’s any giant “This was their biggest mistake” post Wiseman.
Is that why we haven’t traded a single unprotected pick to improve our roster since 2013?
Considering you guys got 4 rings since then? Yeah I completely understand why the team believes in their drafting ability to compete.
Outside of Wiseman, I think Kuminga and Moody were both sensible picks at the time. And with the Dubs being as good as they were at the time, it made sense to make high upside picks.
They missed on them and have tried to still do right. Like they tried to trade for Giannis and even Kawhi, but the prices were simply too high.
Would you rather have traded 2 picks and 3 swaps for Kawhi?
Your promise means nothing because the Clips situation was never comparable to the Warriors or other teams. Kawhi isn’t your franchise goat and most of his lack of success is due to his own inability to stay healthy.
It’s way sadder to see your franchise goat like Curry and Jokic still play at an elite level but lose because they have no help around them.
I promise you the Kobe Smush Parker Kwame Brown era was way sadder than the Kobe Nash Dwight era. Even if you want to add in the baby Lakers era that happened after his retirement, I’ve always been fine with the Lakers FO making a last swing for Kobe.
Most FOs aren’t the Lakers with Kobe.
I get that it’s sadder, but FOs are constantly looking to be in the best situation. That includes going all in at times and holding steady other.
I agree that Kawhi is nowhere near what Steph or Jokic means to their respective teams, but FOs still are about keeping their jobs and not just always sacrificing the future for marginally better results.
I think more FOs are closer to the Lakers and Kobe than GSW Curry or DEN Jokic. Most teams when they have good players aren’t shy about making moves to help said player. MN got Gobert and Melo for Ant. Knicks got Mikal and KAT for Brunson.
If your FO isnt going all in when Jokic and Curry are still elite then when is the time to go all in? You would be lucky if even one of those future picks is half as good as Jokic or Curry.
Spending picks is different from spending money though. Money just impacts the owner. Spending picks impacts future championships for the team.
“Everyone on my team is a bad defender, McDaniels was right”
I mean Jimmy probably got as close to that as we’ll get and heat fans will still say he betrayed them
Best we can do is passive aggressive toxicity (Giannis)
Kobe did that and this sub hates him for it
This sub hates Kobe assaulting his teammates, there’s a difference
How’s that working for KD?
See, the issue is KD does that in Twitter DMs instead of out in the public
If he’d just publicly say “Sengun is trash, trade him” then it’d be a different story for the drone enthusiast
that would be him literally calling all of his teammates trash so why the hell would he do tha— wait my favorite player growing up was fucking KD so it’s possible
Someone needs that Mamba mentality!
This is basically what Giannis gets chastised for lol
No, Giannis got shit for wanting to be fake loyal while also signaling he was halfway out the doorway
Meanwhile Jokic is going to stay a Denver Nugget forever. His fav player is Tim Duncan so he’ll most likely follow in his footsteps lol
I think people miss that staying a Nugget forever isn’t entirely in Jokic’s control. If it were up to him, he would be. But I don’t think it is all that crazy to think they will end up trading him
True but he’s 99.9% untouchable. Your Nuggets FO is kinda stupid but not that stupid
lol nah Giannis takes subtle shots at his teammates then acts like he didn’t
When it comes to Jokic, he doesn’t really care. It’s a paycheck since he won a title already.
People are constantly saying this and you literally just don’t know shit about it lol
The real truth is it’s not his job to be dominating the FO and he doesn’t see that as his role, so while they may talk with him (although idk if he will choose to have much input in offseason where’s he’s playing for national) he won’t put them on blast publicly as if that’s supposed to help lmao
He is still as competitive as anyone else and wants to win badly
We kinda do though. He came out and said he wants to be a Nugget the rest of his career and that the only reason he put off signing this season was for the bigger contract he can get next season. If he signs elsewhere he doesn’t get that contract. Obviously every player wants to win but all the “Jokic is going to leave” stuff is based on the expectation he’ll take less which is just not going to happen
man thinks a 3x mvp doesn’t care about his job because he happens to care about his life outside of the nba too lmao
I took it as the opposite
Jokic obviously cares about winning while on the court (changed his diet to improve performance, tries to keep offense flowing rather than hero balling to pad stats)
But when he’s off the court, it’s not his job to joke-gm them into bad decisions (old Westbrook, old dame, demanding pg13 as his running mate, ntc beal, etc). Just stays in his lane, lets the professional executives make business decisions
I know we are going to spend a lot of time talking about him leaving Denver. But only the Nuggets can offer $359.5 million next summer.
Who spends time talking about him leaving Denver? He’s stated multiple times all he wants to do is play his career there
Every thread about him and Watson this summer has hopeful Lakers fans
I don’t get how luka and jokic is a good fit anyway
Unless they get OG and a Thompson twin to thats awful. Giannis with either makes so much more sense.
I see what you’re saying, but I somewhat disagree. They would cook on offense because you can’t give either any space. On defense, they’d get fried though.
if you dont think a luka joker high screen wouldn’t cook 80% of the league on fundamentals you’re crazy
People see a lot of compensation needed on the defensive end and wonder how to do that with the remaining budget.
They would instantly become the best duo of all time bro, there’s no fit to be had
edit: apologies to Steph and KD… but to be honest that feels different because they were such a whole team, or at least four all stars, of excellence. Luka and Jokic would be crazy though
Would they even be a top 2 duo all time for the lakers?
Bron and DWade.
The Luka trade was quite possibly the worst event for NBA trade discourse because it justifies discussion on every single delusional trade idea from Lakers fan
Before the Luka trade it was the Pau Gasol trade. Then it was Shaq signing with them. Maybe they have a point.
They have a hard time not making everything about them lol
If he leaves I think Boston makes the most sense. We don’t have the assets for him because Reaves, Kessler and other players wouldn’t be enough.
Lakers fans can say whatever they want dude. I still believe the league forced that Luka trade behind the scenes and who says they won’t make that happen again
Yeah I’m sure it was all Steve Ballmer’s plan to help the lakers!!!!
Section of Celtic fans think he’s joining Tatum after this season
Its too soon to talk about that, but looking at the finances and how the NBA works he will probably not play there for the rest of his career, moslty because I think he will get traded against his will.
You can pay any amount you want under the table. The precedent is set.
Yep he’ll be the most paid NBA player in league history next year.
No way he leaves Denver lol
only the nuggets or the clippers
If he wants to ring chase he could easily do it at the end of his career as a vet.
Sad jokic
“Peyton was like a horse to me. But next time I see him, he’s glue!”
Pie-oh-my Watson
Good question, and a very mature response from a Jokic. Don’t think I’ve ever heard him shit talk a former teammate.
If only Nuggets fans were as level-headed as Jok…
Why would should the fans be level headed about the awful moves your FO has made?
Jokic should be less level headed, his unconditional loyalty has enabled the FO to waste years of his prime
I genuinely and truly don’t think he cares. You could say that about a lot of players as a general assumption, but I mean it with him.
When he’s not playing ball, he likes nothing more than to be at home in Serbia watching horse races. I don’t think he cares about American big cities. From what we know of him, seems like he would be unhappy in a big market, or at least indifferent.
I feel like this is complete fanfiction people have been pushing about him
I don’t know how you watch him play in the playoffs and come away thinking he doesn’t care, he wears his emotions quite openly on his sleeve
It baffles me. It’s obvious he cares about basketball and it’s obvious it’s not the only thing he cares about. I’m also passionate about a lot of things
He might not care about playing in a big market or w/e, but he cares about winning. Do you think he’s okay with the fact that the Nuggets are running it back with a worse version of a team that lost to the G-League Timberwolves?
Jokic wants to win more than anything, he cares a lot.
Why should Nuggets fans be happy about the roster they put around their franchise GOAT?
If Nuggets fans are being “level-headed” then they’re delusional. I would know, if you’re a level-headed Pelicans fan then you’re also delusional
If only the FO was
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I really don’t think he’s going anywhere. I don’t think he gets hung up on this kind of stuff.
He loves Denver. Not going anywhere.
Interestingly I don’t think it’s the city of Denver or the community he loves. I think he’s really just a process-driven guy. All about the journey and whatever. The lows make the highs better and all that.
But I’ve been wrong a ton about NBA stuff lately so who the fuck knows.
That’s my impression. More than anything I think he likes the stability.
Again, he would be making less money and less years. So….no he’s not leaving
I think he would hate the attention in the Lakers
He doesn’t get attention in Denver?
The attention in LA is the same as in Denver?
He’d be more exposed sure but you said that like Jokic isnt a title winning multi mvp
Maybe it’s my bad English and bad wording
Which is weird to be loyal in the NBA, it’s rarely rewarded lol.
Unless you’re going to be the highest paid NBA player of all time. Which Jokic will be once he signs with Nuggets again.
Hes coming to the celtics
Hello darkness my old friend…
Him and Watson were really tight on the court and off the court huge loss for Denver and dumb moves by FO…
Honestly this trade might be the last drop that makes Jokic ask for trade next season
He’s pissed
It’s so fucking over
NBA’s Terminator. Doesnt care who’s on the team, knows he’s got some carrying too do.
If he doesn’t sign that supermax(300+ million $) that would be sad. Either way Denver has the stupidest front office and even if he has 4 nobodys around him i still belive he will manage to pull a 50 game win season just to be defeated in the first round of playoffs
Off topic but Jokic should chill on the playing so much lol
We’ve finally come full circle from “Jokic doesn’t care about ball, all he does is play with horses in the off season”
He gone
He gonna go to Lakers 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀👀
Dalton Knecht and Vanderbilt for Jokic who says no
Everyone?
Poor Nikola, may he get the same wrath Embiid got all the years when the team was great with him on the floor and got torched with him on the bench. Too many “get him some help,” comments and posts around here. If he’s the “best player,” in the league, figure it out
This has literally been already the case…
You do realize jokic has been the leader in on-off many years already in the league lmao, and he’s near the very top every year
Not what I’m saying. Regarding the failure of the team around them: Jokic argument “get him some help, you’re wasting his prime.” The Embiid comments “loser, be better”
He did figure it out, that’s why he has a title
>If he’s the “best player,” in the league, figure it out
not how it works, you know basketball is a team sport right?
I’m very aware. Yet that luxury wasn’t afforded to Embiid. Keep the same energy
Embiid can’t even stay healthy for people to say that
He plays in the playoffs, and they’re great with him on, has always been the case. Jokic doesn’t play defense, and doesn’t jump, yet oh well 🤷🏾get him help! Make this a Jokic/Donovan Mitchell convo or any top player really, Donovan isn’t good enough yada yada, never get him some help. Jokic is the guy people feel sorry for, the others, nope
Embiid gets torched because he manages to get injured in the most trivial ways and has not been fully healthy in the playoffs like ever.
Embiid was the best player in the NBA for a total of 2 months in 2023.
that same luxury wasn’t afforded to embiid because the man is made of glass