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Nuggets center Nikola Jokić was a relative unknown when he was taken in the second round of the 2014 NBA draft. But it appears that the two-time MVP was always destined for Nuggets greatness.
At least, that’s one interpretation of this photo posted by Jokić’s agent, Miško Ražnatović, in which a five-year-old Jokić can be seen rocking a retro Nuggets sweatshirt from the year 2000.
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“Chances of a kid from a small Serbian town having a sweatshirt from a lesser-known American team back in 2000 were minimal … Chances of anyone knowing about the Nuggets in a small Serbian town were next to nothing,” Ražnatović wrote in the caption. “But chances of that same kid growing up to play basketball and achieve his career high, win two MVP titles and sign a historic agreement with the same club whose sweatshirt he wore at age five, were zero. It is true that winners create their own fate, make the impossible possible and write the pages of history through exceptional dedication, hard work, sacrifice, confidence and willingness to do more than others.”
Jokić has become one of the best and most versatile players in the league with Denver. He made his first All-Star team in 2019, then took his game to new heights with back-to-back MVP wins in ’21 and ’22. Last season, he averaged 27.1 points and 13.8 rebounds per game on 58.3% shooting from the field—all career highs.
Jokić agreed to a record-breaking five-year, $264 million contract with the Nuggets this offseason, so there will be plenty of more opportunities for Nuggets-clad photo ops in the years to come.
