Serbia sealed their second Olympic basketball medal of the Nikola Jokic era with their Bronze medal finish at the 2024 Paris Olympics. It was a sensational tournament for the Serbians, especially Jokic who dominated throughout the Olympics until their semi-final loss to Team USA.
Ecstatic about the team’s success, the Serbian fans gave an explosive homecoming to Jokic and the squad, raining MVP chants on the Nuggets center.
Nikola Jokić, MVP 🇷🇸 pic.twitter.com/VJukympaBN
— THE JOKER(S) 🃏🇷🇸🏆 (@SerbsInSports) August 12, 2024
Serbia came agonizingly close to playing in the Gold medal game but couldn’t maintain a 17-point lead in the semi-final against Team USA as Stephen Curry and LeBron James took over to end the Serbian dreams of winning Gold in basketball.
Many fans and experts believe that Serbia was the clear second-best team in the tournament but missed out on the Silver medal due to being on the same side of the bracket as the dominant Team USA.
Jokic averaged 18.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 8.7 assists throughout the tournament, ending it as the per-game leader in rebounds and assists, bringing himself into Olympics MVP conversations despite his third-place finish. He became only the fourth player in Olympic history to record a triple-double, joining fellow NBA players Luka Doncic and LeBron James on that list.
It’s wonderful to see the enthusiasm with which Serbian fans welcomed their Olympic heroes back to the country, as this reaction wasn’t exclusively for the basketball team. The fans received all their Olympic champions with thunderous reactions, including Novak Djokovic, who Jokic stood alongside on stage.
Nikola Jokić i Novak Đoković 🇷🇸❤️#djokovic𓃵 x 🃏 pic.twitter.com/VSMvXOrph0
— Flouter (@FlouterNET) August 12, 2024
Jokic was a crucial part of the Serbian national team that secured a Silver at the 2016 Olympics as well, making him a two-time Olympic medallist. It’s unclear if the 29-year-old Jokic will participate in the 2028 LA Games, but he will likely take another crack at winning all three color medals at the Olympics, with the Gold still missing from his cabinet.
Nikola Jokic Taking A Much-Needed Break
Nikola Jokic, along with many other NBA players, hasn’t been able to take a proper break this summer due to the Olympics. With the heavy workload he carried for Serbia as the national team also went on an international tour of exhibitions games before starting the Olympics likely taking a toll on Jokic.
He’s coming into an NBA season as the reigning league MVP who will see the team rely more heavily on him than before because of the departure of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The Nuggets hope to replace KCP’s production with Christian Braun and Julian Strawther, which will mean Jokic will have to find ways to make them succeed,
Jokic will get a chance to take over a month off before the start of training camp in late September. He’s already watching his horses race back home and spending time in Serbia, so the center will maximize the offseason he gets before leading one of the few contenders in the West next season.
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