After Nikola Jokic was drafted by the Denver Nuggets in the 2014 NBA draft, he spent a month at P3 Applied Sports Science in Santa Barbara.
Jokic recorded the lowest standing vertical leap of any NBA player they had ever assessed. Jokic’s 17 inch leap remains the lowest with over 1,000 players in their database.
Jokic was asked if he wanted to reserve any court time while at P3 to work on his basketball game.
“No, no,” Jokic replied. “No basketball. Basketball is good.”
Jokic then patted his stomach.
“This” — his body — “not so good,” Jokic responded.
No player at P3 before or since had not picked up a basketball during their time at their facility.
Jokic overhauled his diet and eliminated a three-liters-a-day Coca-Cola habit.