Late last week I’m driving, listening to sports talk radio, and the host teases Nikola Jokic quotes that were to prove he doesn’t want to leave Denver to play in Los Angeles next season.
Naturally, I’m interested.
Instead, they gave a window into his view on celebrity life in general. And they went viral almost immediately.
The quotes came from a wide-ranging 35-ish minute sit down with the Jao Mile Podcast, done in his native Serbian language, and late in the interview Jokic was asked if he misses his anonymity.
This was his answer.
“Ugh, a lot. I have to admit, a lot,” Jokic said. “It bothers me more and more and this is going to sound bad; I’m becoming ruder and ruder to people who approach me because…it’s, honestly, it’s exhausting. …. I really don’t take photos, because that is my time. … I don’t take photos, really neither with kids. I don’t take photos and that is because it is my time. And if people can’t understand that, I’ve been, well, I’m rude to people. … And somehow it’s already been 10, 11 years, somehow I think that’s enough now.
“And now….when I won the MVP, well, okay now I understand all that. …Now, somehow, it’s already enough.”
Jokic has never been about the fame, and I mean never. I spent nearly his entire career near him when I worked for Altitude Sports. He has a circle of family and friends that he is fiercely protective of. He is an incredibly friendly and engaging person. I loved the small talks I had with him. And it was so very clear that he wanted just play basketball each night and then get back to his life. On the court, his passing is flashy. That is the only shine he seeks.
When you rise to become the best player in the world, the world wants more of you. Unfortunately for him, Jokic plays in the social media era, he plays in the era of smartphones and, well, podcasts. He is an old soul, in some respects just tolerating an increasingly intrusive world that demands to know every corner of a star’s life.
And he is now voicing his fight against it.
He didn’t ask for the fame, but also in recent years he hasn’t sprinted from it, either. There have been TV commercials and shoe deals. The podcast he was on when he talked about missing his anonymity was, in large part, to promote his newest basketball shoes.
And with maybe the most unique contract situation a star player has ever had, the constant questioning about it will become his new bug-a-boo. In nearly every interview, in every city, on every national television broadcast, he’ll get asked some form of what his thoughts are on signing a contract with the Nuggets next summer. It will get real old, real fast.
But if there is a balance, he will find it. In that podcast he talked about not wanting to be a role model to kids, yet kids will still look up to him. He talked about walking out of the arena the night the Nuggets won the championship to a city set into a frenzy, and what a beautiful sight it was to see people moved in such a way from what he and his teammates were able to accomplish on a basketball court.
This is Jokic 2.0. Older and more mature. A father. A family man. And, now, more than ever, intentionally protective of his off-court privacy. At the same time, still jovial and funny and interesting and awe-inspiring.
And we wouldn’t have it any other way.