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This is not the first time Giannakopoulos has opened up about his plans for Jokic. “For me, I stopped watching the NBA the day that Jordan stopped bouncing the ball. I started watching a bit of the NBA again when Jokic went there,” he said, addressing the situation. “I believe he’s top ten players of all time. I would love to see him in a Panathinaikos jersey, and I’m going to do whatever I can to try and do it. The politics are difficult. I don’t think it’s a matter of teams. I think it’s a matter of the NBA maybe not allowing such a huge star to come here. leave,” added the 52-year-old Greek businessman.
Oh No He Didn't: Peyton Watson on what he learned from playing with Nikola Jokic: "I think my IQ for the game has gotten a lot better just playing with him. Knowing how to play with a superstar is something that's invaluable in this league with so much talent. I think you need to always know how to play off of other players and how to make other players better, even if you don't necessarily have the ball in your hands"
Draymond Green: "We all get a licensing check. LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kawhi Leonard, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, they all get the same jersey sales as the rookie. Excuse me, as a rookie, you don't get a license check because the license check is from a year before. But say a second-year guy who didn't play much on a team, and the license check was 500 grand, that's jersey sales. That's all of the licensing things, right? That same 500 grand that that second-year guy gets, Steph Curry gets. It's divvied up, it's even split. And so, you could make 300,000, you could make 500,000, but every player makes the same amount."
How hard is it physically to endure an 82-game season and how do you deal with that rhythm? "Maybe I'm proud of that. I want to play every game. I played one season of 82 games. Maybe it shouldn't be like that, maybe you need to rest a little. But I think that when you're in a certain rhythm, the game comes to you normally and in a way you even enjoy it. Even when I was injured, when I was absent from the field for a long time for the first time, I was nervous. I can say that I was really nervous, maybe for the first time in my life . "
While he understands his popularity, he admits it can sometimes be annoying. “I miss it so much. I'm getting more and more bothered by popularity. This is going to sound corny, but, I'm getting ruder to people who approach me. Honestly, it's tiring…Some people around me know, I don't take pictures because it's my time. I'll sound rude again, but what can I do? If people can't understand me, I understand everything, but it's been 11-12 years and enough is enough. I feel better when someone tells me something, like you come to the zoo and take a picture of something.”
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“Some people might not like it, but I don't think they should be looking up to me. I’ve had both good and bad examples, but somehow I always knew deep down what was right, like, if I went outside at sixteen [years of age], I wouldn't get drunk,” Jokic started.I don't know if a public figure can really influence kids; that role belongs to friends and family. I don't think I have that much influence on young people; people tell me, “They look up to you.” Well, they shouldn't, I didn't look up to others either. I disagree with people on this, even if my opinion might not be popular.”
Harrison Wind: Nikola Jokic: "This year I managed to organize things so that I could every day go to the stable, spend time with the horses and go riding." "I like it when everyone leaves. I come there afterwards, sometimes there's nobody there and everything is peaceful. Then someone comes to feed them and all you can hear is them eating."
Nikola Jokic: “When I came to the NBA, I had Jameer Nelson and Wilson Chandler as role models when it came to training.” “Mike Miller was there too, although he was already a little older at the time.
Only when you become a parent do you start to look at things differently. Are you now more aware of the sacrifices your parents made for you? "It starts normally with mom and dad. I remember training late, we finish late, and dad waits... Their time, sacrifices, money in some moments... We didn't have enough for sneakers, for travel. When I left, mom and dad would come for two or three days. They really dedicated all their free time to me and helped me. Now I see what things they did for me, which maybe I do now, God willing, for my children."
That is exactly why Sombor for Jokić is not only a place he returns to between two seasons, but an environment where he is still surrounded by people whose lives have not changed because of his. "My friends have normal jobs. They work from nine to five, I have a godfather who works as a forester from five to three. When you are in such a normal environment... If I went somewhere else and had different people around me, then it would be normal for me. And now this is normal for me: I go to the cottage, I go to take care of the horses, we drink beer somewhere, we hang out. I was in Mol yesterday. People don't even know where Mol is. I have some horses there. The guy who won came a big race for us, we celebrated, roasted a pig. It's great for me, all the way . "
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One of them is being a role model to a wider community, something that Jokic disagrees with and doesn't like to be labeled with it: "Some people might not like it, but I don't think they should be looking up to me. I’ve had both good and bad examples, but somehow I always knew deep down what was right, like, if I went outside at sixteen [years of age], I wouldn't get drunk," Jokic started. "I don't know if a public figure can really influence kids; that role belongs to friends and family. I don't think I have that much influence on young people; people tell me, "They look up to you." Well, they shouldn't, I didn't look up to others either. I disagree with people on this, even if my opinion might not be popular."
"When I arrived in Denver, I had Wilson Chandler and Jameer Nelson. Mike Miller was there too, though he was getting on in years. I often think of them; we even have a group chat and stay in touch. They were at the gym every single day; their mindset was simply, "I’m going to show up and get some work done." "I had really good role models, I just copied them. I didn't have to be a genius. Over the years, you develop your own routine and find what works for you."
When you played alongside Nikola Jokic in Denver, did you sense that he would become a superstar? Danilo Gallinari: Yeah, I knew he was gonna be a great player. I didn't know he was gonna be a three-time MVP, but I knew he was gonna be a great player, and you could see that the franchise wanted to go in that direction. And it was great to be part of winning teams in Denver, but it was also great to be part of a rebuilding situation. My situation never changed because I was always playing in the starting lineup and being the best player on the team. So nothing changed for me, but it was all great to see these young players develop.
Who are your current top five players in the league? Danilo Gallinari: Current Top 5, I always, I guess I always go with the old heads first: Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, and LeBron James. And then I put Anthony Edwards and Nikola Jokic.
