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'He's like Steph Curry': How the Nuggets transformed Nikola Jokic into a legend

Updated Jun. 11, 2023 7:36 p.m. ET

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Melissa Rohlin

FOX Sports NBA Writer

When Nikola Jokic arrived in Denver, the organization had concerns about him.

He was overweight. His athleticism was limited. His work ethic was in question. 

Nuggets assistant coach Ognjen Stojakovic hoped Jokic could transform into a combination of Dirk Nowitzki and Marc Gasol. But after working with the 19-year-old for a few years, he realized Jokic could become much more.

"He's like Steph Curry, one of the guys who changed basketball," Stojakovic told FOX Sports. " ... Now you have a big who is actually an all-around player. That's the dream of every coach, to have a guy who is a seven-footer, who plays from one to five offensively."

Jokic's dominance and unparalleled versatility have made teams begin to reimagine the role of big men. It's similar to how Curry made teams re-prioritize the 3-point shot, ushering in an era of small ball.

Isaiah Thomas tweeted in May that if Denver wins the Finals, "The game will change." Draymond Green said on his podcast in June, "I don't think there's a tougher player to guard in a zone in the NBA than Steph and Joker."

For the Nuggets, Jokic's transformation has been nothing short of incredible. 

Before he became a two-time Most Valuable Player who is now one win away from his first NBA championship, he had raw talent but was undisciplined. Some within the Nuggets organization even wondered whether he'd have staying power in the league. 

This much is for sure: No one saw him becoming a once-in-a-generation player who would alter the way his position was viewed. 

HIS BODY TRANSFORMATION

After the Nuggets selected Jokic with the 41st overall pick in the 2014 draft, they didn't know what to expect from the kid from Sombor, Serbia, who weighed 300 pounds and didn't look NBA ready. 

"He came back a little heavier than what we would've liked," Nuggets strength and conditioning coach Felipe Eichenberger told FOX Sports. "The GM [Tim Connelly] was talking like, 'What's going on? We've got to change this.'"

Eichenberger, who was an assistant at the time, began working with Jokic.   

"I told Nikola, 'If you're lighter, you're going to have more endurance,'" Eichenberger said. "'Your knee isn't going to hurt anymore. Not like an injury, but your knee is sore, your ankle is sore, your back is sore.' I'd say, 'Just stick with me for a little bit. Let's go with it. And then we'll see how you feel.'"

A young Nikola Jokic, pictured here in January 2016, needed to undergo a body transformation to become the two-time MVP he is today.

During offseasons, Eichenberger would travel to Sombor to train Jokic. He says to understand him, you have to understand where he's from. They'd practice on rims that Eichenberger suspected weren't regulation height, and on courts that were far from ideal.

"There's stories where we were practicing, and we'd have to stop because it was too hot," Eichenberger said. "Or there's poop on the floor that we had to clean. Now, it is a lot different. But back then, the first year and the second year, was just about where he's from, truly."

Through that, they built a friendship. 

Jokic started entrusting Eichenberger to transform his body. He kept steadily improving his first few years in the league. But in 2019, a fire ignited in him that changed everything. 

After Jokic reached the postseason for the first time in his career, the Nuggets fell to the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 7 of their second-round series. Jokic, who averaged 25.1 points, 13 rebounds and 8.4 assists that postseason, blamed himself for his team's loss after missing seven of 10 shots in the fourth quarter because of fatigue. 

He decided to approach things with a new intensity. In 2020, photos surfaced of him looking 20-30 pounds lighter. 

"We created a routine," Eichenberger said. "His routine has been the same for three-plus years. He does every single thing the right way. He'll eat his eggs first, and then he'll eat his oatmeal next. And then he'll go get treatment, then he'll go to the weight room, and then he'll go shoot in the morning — then he'll go practice."

Not only was Jokic adhering to a strict workout regimen before and after practices and games, but he completely changed his eating habits. He stopped snacking while playing video games. He ate less heavy Serbian food.

"We had him eating every three hours every day, small amounts, six meals every day," Eichenberger said. 

With his new body, Jokic's game reached a new level 

In 2020, Jokic led the Nuggets to the Western Conference finals, where they lost to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers. The next two years, Jokic won back to back MVPs. 

Now, he's on the verge of possibly leading the Nuggets to their first title in franchise history. This postseason, Jokic has had 10 triple-doubles, while the rest of the NBA combined has three. He's averaging 30.1 points, 13.3 rebounds and 9.8 assists. 

"You kind of take that for granted," DeAndre Jordan told FOX Sports. "But that's not normal."

During the Western Conference finals, Lakers coach Darvin Ham called Jokic "one of the most highly-conditioned players of his caliber." Nuggets coach Michael Malone added, "His work ethic is off the charts."

Nuggets coach Mike Malone (R), who arrived in Denver in 2015-16 — Jokic's rookie year — said that his center's work ethic is "off the charts."

What's funny is Jokic still doesn't have a chiseled body. And according to Eichenberger, he likely never will. 

"I'd love for him to be ripped, showing all the muscles," Eichenberger said. "But that's not his body. It's genetics, right? You see his family and they're broad. And he's broad."

Jokic might look more like a bouncer than an NBA star, but he makes the chiseled guys guarding him appear helpless and outmatched. 

And what's crazy is Eichenberger believes Jokic is only going to get better. 

"Basketball players don't peak until 29 to 31," he said. "And he's 28."

THE TRANSFORMATION OF HIS SKILLS

Stojakovic knew of Jokic's talent after watching him play in the Adriatic League as a teenager. But he also knew of his shortcomings. 

Jokic put up monster numbers in Serbia. But the NBA was a different beast. In order to shine there, he needed to become extremely disciplined, a concept which he struggled with at first. 

"We always laugh about that because for the first three years we were bumping heads because he didn't understand why he needed to work hard," Stojakovic said.  

Jokic was a 19-year-old who was apart from his parents. He didn't speak the language. He was a world away from his hometown.  It took time for him to adjust, both on and off the court. 

But he always had incredible potential. 

"Nikola is just a different player," Malone said. "From Day 1, what stood out to me was the skill level; the ball handling, the ball passing, the soft touch."

Eventually, Jokic fully bought in. He decided he wanted to be the best player he could become. He started pouring himself into his craft. When asked what prompted that change, Stojakovic attributes it to Jokic "maturing, growing up."

The thing is, Jokic has always had an incredibly high basketball IQ. It's what helped him compensate for not being the speediest or having the most impressive vertical. So when his on-court intelligence and his work ethic coalesced, his game skyrocketed.

"He's not very fast, but he's very fast because he anticipates situations," Stojakovic said. "That makes him fast."

Jokic became a sponge, quickly soaking up everything that his coaches introduced to him. 

He grew his mid-range and perimeter game. He tweaked his shot, making his release-point higher, so it wouldn't matter how high he jumped. He perfected his footwork. He studied angles. Things his coaches didn't think he'd be good at, he mastered. He kept growing his game, adding nuance after nuance. 

It wasn't long before he developed one of the most complete offensive games, possibly of any player in the game's history. 

Now, Jokic can finish around the basket with a myriad of shots with either hand. He can score from all three levels of the floor. He reads defenses, analyzing in a fraction of a second how someone's guarding him. He can drive past them. He's a brilliant passer. Whatever a defender does, Jokic has a vast arsenal of moves to counter with, seemingly always one step ahead in the chess match.   

Just ask four-time champion LeBron James, who literally tipped his hat to Jokic after the Nuggets swept the Lakers in the conference finals.  

"When you have a guy like Joker, who [is] as big as he is, but also as cerebral as he is, you can't really make a lot of mistakes versus a player like that," James said. "Even when you guard him for one of the best possessions that you think you can guard him, he puts the ball behind his head Larry Bird-style and shoots it 50 feet in the air — and it goes in."

The Nuggets swept the Lakers in the Western Conference finals in May. During and after the series, LeBron James lauded Jokic's IQ, calling him "cerebral."

As for Stojakovic, when asked who he'd compare Jokic's game to now, he said he's one of a kind.

Stojakovic analogized him to a brilliant composer, who, after studying all the greatest works of music, has invented a completely unique style.   

"You learn the notes, you learn the scales, you pick up a couple of songs, and then you start to create your own music," he said. "That's what he does now. He's the guy who creates his own music."

STILL AS HUMBLE AS EVER

Jokic has metamorphosed from a wild card into a trailblazer, evolving leaps and bounds both mentally and physically. 

But he has also very much remained the same. 

"He's a normal person," Stojakovic said. "When I say normal, he doesn't act like a superstar. He acts like the same person he was before came to the NBA."

After finishing with the first 30-point, 20-rebound and 10-assist game in Finals history in Game 3 against the Heat, Jokic was asked for his thoughts on that incredible feat.  

"I don't care," he said. "It's just a stat."

It's not an act. 

We've all heard Jokic talk about how little winning MVPs means to him. He speaks the same way behind-the-scenes, even among his closest confidantes. 

"His favorite quote is 'Brother, I don't care,'" Eichenberger said. "I was like, 'Man, you're the MVP.' He was like, 'Bro, that's great. But I don't care.' … I think his vision in his mind is: I just want to play. I just want to be free. I just want to do what I enjoy, which is basketball and horses."

What Jokic does care about is winning a title. It's why he went from not working hard enough to devoting himself to the game with such intensity that he's helping transform it. 

If Jokic wins a championship, he'll be at the center of the basketball world. 

Teams will scramble to try to emulate the Nuggets' formula for success, glorifying the concept of a center who is positionless on offense, able to do it all. 

And off the court, children will look up to a guy who loves passing, who is selfless and who couldn't care less about superstardom. 

"That's great for basketball," Stojakovic said. "I think normal is virtue."

It has been an incredible journey for Jokic. 

And we're quite possibly just at the beginning of witnessing its ramifications. 

Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.

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