A LIFE IN BASKETBALL
Nikola Jokić
b. 1995 · Athlete
Early Life
Nikola Jokić was born on February 19, 1995, in Sombor, a small town in northern Serbia near the Hungarian border. He grew up in a basketball-loving family — both of his older brothers played the sport competitively — but as a heavyset kid who reportedly weighed well over 200 pounds as a young teenager, he was not an obvious future NBA star. He has said he preferred horse racing and watching harness racing with his family as much as basketball in his early years, a hobby that remains one of his defining off-court passions today.
Jokić began playing organized basketball relatively late and developed slowly, playing for lower-tier Serbian clubs including Mega Basket before making his way onto the radar of professional scouts. His unusual body type and unhurried playing style meant he was often underestimated, even as his passing vision and footwork — skills that would later define his NBA game — were already visible to those who watched him closely.
Rise to Fame
In 2014, the Denver Nuggets selected Jokić with the 41st overall pick in the second round of the NBA draft — a selection so unheralded that it was reportedly announced on air during a hot dog eating contest broadcast, with few expecting the pick to amount to much. Jokić spent one more season in Europe before joining the Nuggets for the 2015-16 season, where his passing ability out of the center position immediately set him apart from a conventional big man.
Over his first several NBA seasons, Jokić developed into one of the league’s most unusual and effective stars: a 6-foot-11 center who could pass like a point guard, shoot from outside, and read the floor better than almost anyone in the sport. By the end of the 2010s, he had become the offensive hub of a rising Nuggets team and one of the most efficient scorers in the league.
Career Highlights
Jokić won his first NBA Most Valuable Player award in 2021, and won it again in 2022, becoming only the third player in NBA history to win back-to-back MVPs at that point in his career. In 2023, he led the Denver Nuggets to their first NBA championship in franchise history, dominating throughout the playoffs and winning Finals MVP after averaging a near-triple-double across the postseason.
He added a third MVP award in 2024, joining an exceptionally small group of players to win the honor three or more times, and has continued to post historically rare statistical seasons — regularly finishing among the league leaders in points, rebounds, and assists simultaneously, a combination almost no center in NBA history has sustained. Off the court, Jokić has become known for a famously understated personality: he has said in interviews that he would rather be home in Serbia with his horses during the offseason than in the spotlight, a contrast to the showmanship common among other superstars of his era.
Entering the 2026-27 season, Jokić remains the center of a Nuggets team still built around him, with reporting suggesting his long-term future with the franchise could hinge on the team’s performance and roster moves over the coming seasons, even as he has repeatedly said he hopes to stay in Denver for his entire career.
Personal Life
Jokić married his longtime partner, Natalija Mačesić, in 2022, after the couple had already welcomed a daughter together in 2022 as well. He has spoken about how fatherhood shaped his priorities and his sense of legacy, often describing basketball as something he does for his family rather than an identity he seeks public recognition for.
Away from the NBA, Jokić is deeply involved in harness racing, owning and breeding horses in Serbia and the United States, and he spends much of his offseason at home in Sombor rather than in the U.S., a habit that has become part of his public persona as one of the league’s most low-key superstars.
Net Worth & Legacy
Nikola Jokić’s net worth is estimated at around $120 million, built almost entirely on his NBA salary rather than endorsements. His five-year, $264 million supermax contract signed in 2022 made him the highest-paid player in NBA history at the time it was signed, with his salary escalating toward roughly $63 million by the 2027-28 season.
A 41st overall pick who has become a three-time MVP and NBA champion, Jokić is widely regarded as one of the most unconventional superstars the league has ever produced — proof that dominance in basketball doesn’t require fitting a traditional athletic mold. His passing, footwork, and basketball IQ have reshaped how teams think about what a center can do, and his career stands as one of the greatest value stories in NBA draft history.