Nikola Jokic did not grow up learning basketball through formal training programs or elite academies. The roots of his game started much closer to home, in a small apartment in Sombor, Serbia, where a simple basketball hoop hung on a door inside the family house. That was where everything began.
The competition started early.
Speaking with Edin Avdic on X&O’s Chats, Jokic shared that his earliest basketball memories involved playing against his two older brothers. They were bigger, stronger, and far more physical, which made those games feel less like friendly practice and more like survival.
(Translated from Serbian)
‘The first sport was basketball, and the one I started to train in. My brothers played basketball. And I fell in love with it. That’s when I fell in love with it. We had a basketball hoop on the door. That’s how it all started. I was little, so I was with them. Me against two of them.”
“Then they get mad at me, and they’re beating me up. And then I start crying. Usually, we play, and it’s me against the two of them. And they get mad at me because I start crying, because they’re beating me up, you know, pushing me.”
“We get in a shoving match, and they shove me into the door. I fall, I scream, and then my mom comes. ‘Let Nikola alone.’ Let Nikola alone. They’re like, ‘No.’ And I cry about it.”
The one against two scenario was common where the future MVP went against his elder brothers Strahinja Jokic and Nemanja Jokic. They were both several years older and already physically developed as compared to the young Nikola. The instability there with caused havoc.
As Jokic claims, the games would soon degenerate into roughness. What had begun as mild competition may escalate into pushing, shoving, and quarrels as his brothers got frustrated when the younger brother attempted to compete with them. Jokic acknowledged that physicality regularly got to him when he was younger. During games his brothers would push him about which sometimes ended with him crying having been knocked down or pushed around the house. Until his mother intervened and prevented his brothers in continuing to beat him up.
Jokic attributes his early fights as some of the factors that contributed to his competitive attitude despite rough treatment. Competing with older brothers made him evolve, learn how to defend the ball, and think of the cases when he could not use his strength or speed as an advantage.
His two brothers who competed against him had their professional basketball experiences as well.
Strahinja Jokic, the oldest, played professionally in Europe earlier in his career. He spent time competing in Serbia and later played internationally, including stints in leagues in countries such as Greece and other European circuits before eventually stepping away from the sport.
Nemanja Jokic also played organized basketball for many years. The middle brother played at the college level in the United States, spending time with the University of Detroit Mercy Titans and later the C.W. Post Pioneers at Long Island University’s C.W. Post campus.
After his college career, Nemanja continued playing professionally overseas in Europe before transitioning into a different professional path.
The two brothers were taller and more powerful than Nikola was when a child. They had their impact more than just in the back yard games. Owing to being surrounded by elderly players, Jokic was introduced to the beat of basketball at an earlier age than the majority of children though the teachings were at times in the guise of bruises and quarrels.
The chaotic door hoop fights later took Jokic to organized basketball in Serbia where his atypical skills set started showing. The dying vision, patience, and creativity which now characterize his game, grew gradually during years of playing with and against older opponents.
The interview with Avdic covered more than childhood memories. At another point in the conversation, Jokic pushed back strongly against a common criticism of modern basketball. Many fans claim defense no longer exists in today’s NBA. Jokic dismissed that idea immediately.
According to Jokic, the league is actually stronger than it was decades ago because the talent level has grown across every position. He even said today’s NBA is better overall than the league was thirty years ago, though he still expressed deep respect for legends like Larry Bird while also praising emerging stars such as Victor Wembanyama.
The interview showed different sides of Jokic at once. The childhood competitor who fought through rough games with his brothers. The modern superstar defending the level of today’s NBA. And the laid back personality who still jokes about a small unpaid bet more than a decade later.
