Nikola Jokic says he wouldn’t change decision to skip Olympic Qualifiers

2021-09-22T23:51:16+00:00 2021-12-07T21:33:49+00:00.

Antonis Stroggylakis

22/Sep/21 23:51

Eurohoops.net

Nikola Jokic was coming off a quite intense NBA season when he decided to not play for Serbia in the Olympic Qualifiers.

Βy Eurohoops team/ info@Eurohoops.net

Nikola Jokic faced some criticism in Serbia for his decision to skip the Olympic Qualifiers and not join his national team’s efforts to play in Tokyo.

Regardless of that backlash and the fact that Serbia didn’t qualify to the Olympic Games, Jokic stood by the choice he made and said that he would do it again, if the turned back time.

“I made a decision. If it’s good or if it’s bad, I’m going to stick to it. I wouldn’t change it,” Jokic said in his first presser ahead of 2021-22.

Jokic’s offseason was busy. He had to recover his body and regaining his strength following a very busy season with the Denver Nuggets that finished with him winning NBA MVP.

The Serbian big man simply refused to sit out games throughout the season and that summer rest was valuable.

Then it was some non-basketball related stuff. Like taking care of his horses.

“It’s what I want to do,” Jokic said. “They put me in some other dimension. Make me feel really very good. Because you can feel some connection.  When you spend a little time with them you can find a way to talk to them. That’s what I want to do when I finish my career. I want to be around my whole life. It’s pure love.

“I like to be around them, smell them. The best feeling ever is when you feed them and the sound they do when they eat in the stable is probably the best sound you can hear,” he added.

Jokic’s horses won 15-20 races this summer. But the best summer news have to do with his family that’s going to be expanding.

“We have a baby coming, so that’s probably the highlight of my offseason, of my life,” Jokic said. “The name.. we don’t have it. Me and Natalija are fighting over it,” he jokingly added.

 

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