“The NBA season takes a lot out of him. Every year, we have either it’s a European championship, or a World Championship, or the Olympic Games… And there is always a question mark ‘Will he play? Is he gonna play for his national team?’ There is always a debate. People are very passionate about the best players playing for our national team. It’s a lot of responsibility for him. I get him, I understand that. But he has done so much for our country and then for basketball as a whole. It’s amazing.”
Source: YouTube
Source: YouTube
What’s the buzz on Twitter?
Eurohoops @Eurohoopsnet
👏🇷🇸A part of the success-making pairing of Serbia, Novak Djokovic shares huge praise on the other half in Nikola Jokic. pic.x.com/2Dn4RC92YT – 4:58 AM
👏🇷🇸A part of the success-making pairing of Serbia, Novak Djokovic shares huge praise on the other half in Nikola Jokic. pic.x.com/2Dn4RC92YT – 4:58 AM
Eurohoops @Eurohoopsnet
“I love that guy. He’s a hero in our country, obviously” – Novak Djokovic on Nikola Jokic
The tennis superstar opens up about Jokic representing Serbia in the NBA and the national team participation debate
👉 He also talks about the late Kobe Bryant
eurohoops.net/en/eurobasket/… – 2:33 AM
“I love that guy. He’s a hero in our country, obviously” – Novak Djokovic on Nikola Jokic
The tennis superstar opens up about Jokic representing Serbia in the NBA and the national team participation debate
👉 He also talks about the late Kobe Bryant
eurohoops.net/en/eurobasket/… – 2:33 AM
Joe Cowley @JCowleyHoops
A fun advanced stat called BPM (box plus/minus) … basically a bit like wins above replacement.
Career Playoff BPM for these guys:
MJ – 11.1, Joker 10.8, Lebron 10, Steph 7, Jimmy Buckets 5.7, Brunson 4.0, Pussy KAT 1.1 … for the KAT lovers he’s barely above an average guy! – 10:06 AM
A fun advanced stat called BPM (box plus/minus) … basically a bit like wins above replacement.
Career Playoff BPM for these guys:
MJ – 11.1, Joker 10.8, Lebron 10, Steph 7, Jimmy Buckets 5.7, Brunson 4.0, Pussy KAT 1.1 … for the KAT lovers he’s barely above an average guy! – 10:06 AM
More on this storyline
“Basketball is the biggest sport we have in our country,” he explained, “Jokic is phenomenal. Honestly, what he does, how he does it. And also, the way he goes about his private life. People thought at the beginning that he was fake, that he was like not interested in anything except his family and his horses. But that’s really everything he is interested in, truthfully, honestly. I really respect that.” “He’s such a talent, he also works hard, and he has got a huge basketball IQ, and just to see him dominate with incredible athletes in American basketball is just something we are all very proud of,” he added, “We all support him.” -via EuroHoops.net / June 2, 2025
Pau Gasol believes the younger generation of European NBA players has raised the level of the game, though he stops short of saying they’ve surpassed his era. “I guess in a certain way, the younger generation has raised the level. Surpassing an older generation is something trickier to say for me,” said Gasol when asked about the rise of stars like Nikola Jokić, Luka Dončić, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. -via EuroHoops.net / June 1, 2025
“Even when I talk about older players than me, I don’t feel like I surpassed anybody. I just kept growing their legacy,” he explained. “What some of the great European players are doing today in the NBA is taking it up another step — in growing what we did, in expanding the level of play that we tried to bring.” -via EuroHoops.net / June 1, 2025