Nuggets rookie Nikola Jokic’s passport photo is pretty great
After scoring a career-high 27 points to go with 14 rebounds, four assists and a block to help lead the Denver Nuggets to an impressive 112-93 win over the Toronto Raptors on Monday, it seems like it’s time for Denver rookie big man Nikola Jokic to get his close-up. I suspect, however, that he might prefer it not be with this particular picture.
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Nema sanse da ga puste na granici…:-D pic.twitter.com/LqVcQ4lzg4
— Nenad Miljenovic (@nmiljenovic) October 7, 2014
That, friends, is a snapshot of the photo on Jokic’s passport, as shared in October of 2014 by Nenad Miljenovic, a fellow Serbian and Jokic’s point guard on KK Mega Vizura / Mega Leks of the Adriatic League, and as unearthed Tuesday by a poster in the Reddit community r/denvernuggets. (This summer, after Jokic inked a deal to come to Denver, Miljenovic signed a three-year pact with Sevilla of Spain’s ACB, the club that employed Kristaps Porzingis before the New York Knicks drafted him.)
Judging by the passport’s date of issue, the picture had to be taken at some point before April 22, 2009, when Jokic would have been just 14 years old. Judging by the photo, it was taken before Jokic hit the growth spurt that transformed him from a swingman into a big man, and the kind of prospect whose combination of size and skill so tantalized the Nuggets that they selected him with the 41st overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft. From a summer profile by Sam Vecenie of CBSSports.com:
“We’re very excited with Nikola,” Nuggets general manager Tim Connelly said. “He has an unbelievably high skill level. A late growth spurt allows him to have kind of a unique skill set. We’ll be patient with him, but he’s a part of our future and we’re excited to have him in the fold.”
The text of Miljenovic’s tweet, loosely translated, read: “There’s no way they’ll let him go at the border.” Luckily for Nuggets fans, though, border patrol agents did allow Jokic to leave Serbia this summer after winning Adriatic League MVP last season, which opened the door to impressive showings in Summer League and preseason that got the attention of Connelly, first-year Denver head coach Michael Malone and just about anyone watching the Nuggets.
That strong first impression came, in part, as a result of a work ethic and commitment to training that saw him continue his physical transformation after coming to the U.S. this summer. From a preseason piece by Paul Klee of The Gazette:
Over three months in the States, Jokic has dropped almost 30 pounds, thanks to an intensive nutritional plan designed by Nuggets strength and conditioning gurus Steve Hess and Felipe Eichenberger. Jokic consumes six meals daily, to which I asked Malone how a man could eat six meals a day and lose weight.
“If you eat six times a day, you’ll eat bonbons and Ho-Hos,” Malone said.
Jokic, however, said he’s scarfing down salmon, yams, chicken, steak, salad and eggs. […]
“You don’t lose 30 pounds and improve the way he has by not working. It doesn’t happen by accident,” Malone said. “You (combine) that work ethic and the fact he’s that young and skilled and a very smart, high-IQ player. He does have a chance to be a very special player as long as he continues to work and get stronger.
“He’ll have a chance in a few years to surprise a lot of people.”
On that score, Jokic is ahead of schedule. He’s averaging a shade under 10 points, six rebounds and two assists in 20 minutes per game, shooting 55 percent from the field and 35 percent from 3-point range. Moreover, he’s come on of late, posting double-doubles in three of his last four games and looking like a future star against the Raptors:
After Jokic became the first Nugget since Carmelo Anthony to post a double-double with at least 25 points before the age of 21 while also doing heavy lifting defensively on the Raptors’ Jonas Valanciunas, Malone spoke in glowing terms about the player he’s come to regard as one of the cornerstones of Denver’s rebuilding effort.
“Every time I think he’s maxed out what he can do his rookie season, he does something else that impresses me,” he said, according to Nick Kosmider of the Denver Post.
Malone took it a step or two further, though, according to Harrison Wind of BSN Denver:
“[…] the game he had tonight, I mean, you can talk about some of these very young bigs who are very talented, the kid in New York, Minnesota, Philly. I don’t know any of their names. I know this kid’s name, though. I know Nikola Jokic and I wouldn’t trade him for anybody in the world. He’s a special young man, he’s a special young talent and he’s only going to get better as he continues to get stronger, learn the NBA, finishing around the basket, defensively. But he’s a heck of a young talent.”
And he’s come a heck of a long way since a passport photo shoot that, thanks to his buddy, will live in infamy. I know it’s valid until 2019, Nikola, but maybe it’s time to update that photo. You don’t want to be locked into a tough look. Take it from somebody who knows.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
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