Nikola Jokić On Minimizing Pressure With Preparation, Wanting A Low-Profile Life, and His Purpose
00:00:00.000 | (upbeat hip hop music)
00:00:03.240 | - Welcome back to another episode of Curious Mike.
00:00:10.320 | I am here with the one and only Nikola Jokic.
00:00:13.160 | My boy here.
00:00:14.000 | - My boy.
00:00:15.320 | - Appreciate you getting on my back.
00:00:17.160 | - Of course.
00:00:18.000 | - All right, so I kind of want to start
00:00:19.040 | with some basketball stuff.
00:00:19.920 | Then we'll move to some, you know, off the court.
00:00:22.840 | So obviously you're a two-time MVP.
00:00:24.400 | You know, we won the championship last year.
00:00:27.320 | And one thing I've always been impressed with
00:00:29.000 | is how you continue to get better and better and better
00:00:31.960 | as years go by.
00:00:32.920 | How do you stay motivated
00:00:34.160 | now that you have achieved so much at so young?
00:00:37.220 | - That's actually a nice question.
00:00:40.760 | I think the motivation is actually,
00:00:43.920 | becomes your lifestyle of being obsessed with the success.
00:00:47.720 | I think winning is a lifestyle for us right now.
00:00:52.720 | I'm thinking about the team right now.
00:00:55.320 | Like, I think like we can win every game.
00:00:58.400 | And I think it's like winning is kind of lifestyle
00:01:01.600 | and you're getting obsessed with winning and that lifestyle.
00:01:05.720 | It's really, we have fun when it's winning.
00:01:08.200 | - Yeah, we talked about that yesterday.
00:01:10.160 | Yeah, like, and when we lose, it's like.
00:01:12.120 | - It's like, no way.
00:01:13.920 | - Yeah, we don't feel right.
00:01:15.240 | We won so much now that we just don't feel right losing.
00:01:17.480 | - I think that's the, like,
00:01:18.920 | I think that's probably my motivation,
00:01:20.840 | just like obsess of winning and that kind of lifestyle.
00:01:25.840 | - I agree.
00:01:27.720 | - One thing, I don't know if you remember this.
00:01:30.720 | My, I think it was my rookie year
00:01:32.280 | or maybe it was my second year.
00:01:33.400 | And I asked you, I texted you the question.
00:01:35.600 | I was like, how do you deal with pressure?
00:01:37.460 | Because you, and everyone kind of notices this is about you.
00:01:41.720 | In the clutch moments, you know, at the end of the games,
00:01:45.120 | you always are just like this.
00:01:46.440 | No matter what is happening,
00:01:47.560 | you always perform under pressure
00:01:49.120 | and you never seem rattled.
00:01:50.640 | So I remember I asked you about that
00:01:51.960 | 'cause that was something I just really admired about you.
00:01:54.380 | And your answer was, I don't know if it's the same now,
00:01:58.580 | but your answer then was like,
00:01:59.920 | I feel the fear, I feel the pressure,
00:02:02.400 | but I just accept it and I deal with it
00:02:04.200 | and I just go do what I need to do.
00:02:05.900 | And you said you prepare so when the moments come,
00:02:09.460 | you don't feel like you haven't prepared.
00:02:12.060 | Is that kind of the same?
00:02:13.180 | - It's interesting because I think if you're not scared,
00:02:16.780 | if you're not pressured, if you don't feel nervous,
00:02:20.940 | I think you're not, you didn't choose the right sport.
00:02:23.500 | I think that's a normal thing and you must have that.
00:02:28.020 | I think you just, I think the most important thing is to,
00:02:31.940 | like I said, prepare yourself for that moment.
00:02:35.580 | Okay, it's gonna, you think in your head,
00:02:39.180 | okay, this play, a crowd, we are playing home away.
00:02:42.240 | We were losing or we were winning.
00:02:43.820 | So you need to, like, I put scenarios in my head,
00:02:47.540 | like what can, okay, this play, what can happen here?
00:02:51.340 | So I'm kind of already lived that in my head.
00:02:55.740 | So what happened on the floor,
00:02:57.820 | of course, sometimes it's different,
00:03:00.020 | but kind of that makes you prepare for whatever happens.
00:03:05.020 | And I think, but just from the beginning,
00:03:09.700 | pressure and fear, like even now,
00:03:13.220 | I think of every game, I have a pressure, I have a fear.
00:03:16.620 | The guy on the opposing team is gonna beat me.
00:03:20.060 | I think, I think you must have that
00:03:23.460 | or maybe I'm just different thinking.
00:03:26.220 | - I agree, I just think you carry yourself in such a way
00:03:28.340 | that no one would be able to tell on the outside
00:03:30.620 | that you carry pressure 'cause you just seem so nonchalant
00:03:34.500 | and non-caring and it lets you play so free.
00:03:37.740 | How much time do you think you actually prepare?
00:03:40.740 | Is it like when you step foot in the arena,
00:03:42.420 | now your mind is on basketball?
00:03:43.820 | Or is this something that you carry with you even at home?
00:03:47.820 | Or do you separate the two?
00:03:50.140 | - I think you, like my game starts this night,
00:03:55.140 | tonight, you know, and ends up after I stretch
00:03:58.820 | or after I like, you know, we are lifting together after.
00:04:01.340 | So like my game doesn't end when it's zero in the clock.
00:04:05.580 | My game ends like when I'm stretching
00:04:08.020 | or when I'm driving home.
00:04:09.180 | That's when my game ends.
00:04:11.380 | - Oh yeah, routine.
00:04:12.620 | - But it's not like I'm obsessed with my routine,
00:04:17.060 | but I'm kind of trying to not make a big deal of my routine
00:04:21.940 | but still kind of doing it, you know.
00:04:23.860 | I don't want to say if I don't lift
00:04:26.620 | or something's going to happen, you know.
00:04:27.860 | No, like I'm going to do it and it's,
00:04:30.060 | I'm trying to kind of cruise through my routine.
00:04:32.820 | - Right, and it's not like people sometimes
00:04:34.980 | have superstition.
00:04:35.860 | - Yeah, it's not like if I cross the line
00:04:38.300 | or if I like, I need to make five in a row.
00:04:40.140 | Like I don't have that.
00:04:41.220 | Like sometimes, I mean, I'm shooting in a warmup.
00:04:44.100 | If I miss, I just go to the next spot.
00:04:46.340 | And like, it's not something that I'm like,
00:04:48.420 | I need to do this, you know.
00:04:49.540 | So I think that helps me to maybe alleviate the pressure.
00:04:54.540 | Like, because pressure is the game.
00:04:58.700 | Routine or warmup doesn't need to be pressure, you know.
00:05:02.540 | - Yeah, this is part of your life.
00:05:03.380 | - Yeah, but my game starts probably tonight.
00:05:06.140 | Like even now, you kind of start thinking, okay,
00:05:08.660 | like you, you have maxed truths
00:05:10.380 | or whoever is your next opponent tomorrow,
00:05:14.020 | like, uh-huh, this is what he's going to do.
00:05:16.100 | I'm runoff, non-runoff, shooting, not shooting,
00:05:19.380 | dribble, like whatever.
00:05:20.580 | He's a good in a pocket.
00:05:22.220 | For me, he's a good post-up player.
00:05:24.020 | I need to box him out.
00:05:25.420 | Like you need to, that's how I'm, you don't need to,
00:05:28.260 | but that's how I'm thinking.
00:05:30.260 | Like slowly kind of preparing myself to the game.
00:05:35.260 | And I love to be prepared, that helps.
00:05:40.660 | Maybe actually that helps me with the pressure too.
00:05:43.260 | Like being prepared for the game.
00:05:44.540 | Like, you know, I'm really good at reading the plays
00:05:47.300 | and like knowing what they're going to run.
00:05:49.140 | And that kind of helped me with the pressure.
00:05:53.180 | - 'Cause you just-
00:05:54.180 | - Okay, I know what's going to happen.
00:05:55.380 | You know, it's-
00:05:56.980 | - Yeah, this dude will call out, call out plays
00:05:59.900 | that we didn't even go through
00:06:01.860 | and walk through or anything.
00:06:03.860 | - I gave the clippers, you remember?
00:06:05.060 | - Yeah.
00:06:05.900 | - The mic's right here.
00:06:07.260 | - Bro, I was like, wait, what?
00:06:09.500 | I remember that.
00:06:10.620 | - But man, as far as routine, that was one of my questions
00:06:12.820 | because early on in my career,
00:06:15.900 | your routine wasn't the same as it is now.
00:06:18.300 | You know, I remember you were way more,
00:06:20.460 | I don't know if it wasn't that you didn't care
00:06:21.980 | about basketball as much,
00:06:22.860 | but it just seemed like you didn't,
00:06:24.780 | you just were good,
00:06:25.820 | but it didn't seem like you cared as much.
00:06:27.580 | You didn't put as much effort into your body.
00:06:29.540 | You didn't-
00:06:30.380 | - Oh yeah, the beginning of my career was,
00:06:32.420 | you know, I was just,
00:06:35.280 | I came here just to make it, let's say it like that.
00:06:38.300 | You know, I came here as a third, fourth option,
00:06:41.620 | fifth option in some,
00:06:43.620 | so I was just kind of trying to play and to,
00:06:45.780 | and I was young, you didn't know nothing about it.
00:06:48.700 | You know, like you think it's just a basketball.
00:06:51.220 | It's basketball is probably like a 20% of everything else.
00:06:54.900 | It's like basketball is,
00:06:56.940 | I'm going to say for me right now, basketball is easy.
00:06:59.700 | You know, basketball is something that,
00:07:01.660 | you know, you're going to get tired, you know,
00:07:04.900 | you miss make some nights good, some nights bad,
00:07:07.420 | but I think when you learn your routine,
00:07:12.420 | like even first, I'm going to say first three years,
00:07:18.380 | like you starting to learn more and more and more.
00:07:23.140 | And then when your routine is kind of,
00:07:26.020 | I'm going to say like my third or fourth year,
00:07:29.260 | I was kind of, okay, I need to do this.
00:07:32.020 | I need to change diet.
00:07:33.660 | I need to lose weight.
00:07:34.820 | I need to, or maybe I can shoot.
00:07:36.500 | Maybe I can, like youth.
00:07:38.020 | - Just develop it as time goes.
00:07:40.620 | - Develop it through the time, yeah.
00:07:42.740 | - Yeah, for people that don't know you,
00:07:46.140 | you're such a normal and like humble guy.
00:07:47.820 | You like to have fun.
00:07:48.660 | You like to do normal things.
00:07:49.780 | You know, you're not someone who really wants to be famous.
00:07:54.340 | That was never your goal in being great.
00:07:56.500 | So what would you say is the hardest part
00:07:58.900 | about being like a global superstar?
00:08:00.700 | Like the pros and the cons of really just being famous.
00:08:04.300 | - Yes, I mean, I really don't like this life
00:08:07.100 | because on the other day we were just basketball players,
00:08:10.740 | you know, so we are just good at what we are doing.
00:08:14.940 | But media is something that is around us.
00:08:19.940 | And of course we're getting paid because of the media,
00:08:22.220 | because of popularity, you know, so.
00:08:24.020 | But being famous, I think some people like it.
00:08:29.460 | Some people don't.
00:08:32.140 | I really, when I finished my career,
00:08:34.020 | I really wish nobody knows me.
00:08:36.340 | And I really wish my kid or kids in the future
00:08:38.780 | who knows really remember me as a dad,
00:08:42.580 | not as a basketball player, you know.
00:08:44.740 | I think that's gonna,
00:08:45.980 | I'm gonna say that's gonna be my goal in life.
00:08:49.700 | And to not have phone,
00:08:52.660 | I think that's another big goal of mine.
00:08:56.340 | Just to be, to live in the moment.
00:09:01.700 | Like you said, like being a normal person,
00:09:03.380 | living the moment, like go drink with your buddy
00:09:07.780 | or go have lunch or go play with the kids
00:09:10.180 | or go drive horses.
00:09:11.620 | And nobody's gonna make a big deal of that.
00:09:14.060 | Like I feel now, like even if you go outside
00:09:19.060 | and do anything, throw something next to the trash can,
00:09:23.660 | oh, Mike didn't throw this in the trash.
00:09:25.220 | Like it's, people are making a big deal
00:09:26.940 | of such a small things.
00:09:28.540 | And just feel sad whenever you go to the bar, restaurant,
00:09:33.540 | some game, people are just taking the phones
00:09:37.140 | and out and trying to record you.
00:09:39.260 | I think that's really, I'm gonna say rude.
00:09:42.580 | Because it's your life, I'm not,
00:09:46.540 | it's not that I'm showing myself.
00:09:48.540 | I'm just who I am living my life.
00:09:51.420 | - Yeah, you're someone who keeps your private life
00:09:53.060 | very private.
00:09:53.900 | Like I remember when you did get married,
00:09:55.260 | like I don't even think anybody really knew about it.
00:09:58.100 | So when it comes to that, how did you meet your wife, man?
00:10:02.180 | How did you know that she was the one?
00:10:05.300 | - So we met, I know her since I was 14, 15.
00:10:11.620 | - Yeah, she's from--
00:10:14.700 | - Yeah, she lives five minutes away from my house,
00:10:19.460 | from my home.
00:10:20.500 | And we were friends for like a couple of years.
00:10:26.140 | And then she actually came here the summer
00:10:29.780 | that she was supposed to, when she came here,
00:10:32.020 | that summer before that, we kind of started,
00:10:36.260 | I'm gonna say dating.
00:10:37.740 | And she was playing volleyball in Oklahoma.
00:10:42.740 | And we were kind of having long distance relationship.
00:10:45.860 | So how I knew it, to be honest, I didn't know it.
00:10:50.860 | But it just happened to be, I think, to be honest,
00:10:55.140 | everything in my life, I never expected it just go,
00:10:59.660 | told my life go slowly, like uphill, slowly.
00:11:03.020 | I never had like some to knock on wood,
00:11:06.780 | like I never had some big draft.
00:11:11.500 | So it's like slowly, slowly uphill.
00:11:13.820 | - Yeah, when you talk about that,
00:11:16.620 | like when you first got in the NBA and you realized like,
00:11:18.940 | okay, I can play with these guys,
00:11:20.900 | and then you got on the court,
00:11:22.620 | I think Nurkic might have been ahead of you at that time.
00:11:25.460 | You say like, everything just happened to you.
00:11:29.820 | Did you realize when you first started playing
00:11:31.700 | how good you could be?
00:11:32.860 | Or was it something that you just kept working,
00:11:36.100 | you kept your routine and you just got better?
00:11:38.580 | Or was it something when you first got on the court,
00:11:40.180 | you're like, I think I could be the best player in the league?
00:11:42.500 | - I think that's impossible.
00:11:43.540 | But I think, like maybe one of the questions
00:11:48.380 | from earlier, motivation, is that kind of don't relax.
00:11:52.300 | You know, if you relax,
00:11:53.980 | if you start thinking about that, I think,
00:11:56.580 | you're just gonna like, okay, I'm good.
00:11:58.780 | You're gonna stop doing what you're doing, you know?
00:12:02.260 | Yes, but when I came here, I was a fifth option.
00:12:05.820 | They were like JJ Hickson, Kenneth, Joffrey, and Nurk.
00:12:09.660 | And they were all in front of me.
00:12:10.980 | And then one year, me and Nurk started to play together.
00:12:14.180 | That didn't work well.
00:12:15.820 | And I mean, I asked to go to the bench
00:12:19.500 | just because the team, we didn't win a lot of games.
00:12:23.100 | And maybe just, you know, to give myself a chance
00:12:26.860 | or, you know, to play a position
00:12:29.700 | that I'm supposed to play or whatever.
00:12:32.020 | So, and since then, a couple of months after that,
00:12:36.620 | I was starting, I was in the starting unit.
00:12:38.300 | And like I said, it's uphill slowly,
00:12:40.660 | slowly uphill the whole life, I'm gonna say.
00:12:44.900 | - I think that's crazy.
00:12:47.940 | This is another conversation we had.
00:12:50.420 | Well, actually backtrack.
00:12:51.780 | I wanna ask you this because this is a conversation
00:12:53.740 | that kids in America always have, you know,
00:12:55.620 | even NBA players in America.
00:12:56.700 | I don't know if it's the same in Serbia.
00:12:58.500 | We always talk about who's the best players.
00:13:00.460 | And the big conversation on social media is, you know,
00:13:02.500 | who's the best players in the league, who's top five.
00:13:05.180 | But no one ever hears from, you know,
00:13:07.180 | I think right now probably you are the undisputed
00:13:09.500 | best player in the world.
00:13:11.500 | So excluding yourself, who would you say is,
00:13:15.300 | you think it right now in the league is top five?
00:13:18.940 | - Right now in the league?
00:13:20.000 | - Right now in the league.
00:13:21.300 | It's tough, there's a lot of talent in the league right now.
00:13:31.940 | - I think there is a lot of talent.
00:13:36.820 | I think I'm gonna say Joel, Luca.
00:13:44.140 | I mean, you gotta put KD and LeBron there.
00:13:46.940 | So even they're a little bit older,
00:13:49.100 | but I think they could still perform.
00:13:51.620 | - You still got like Steph, you still got.
00:13:55.820 | - Steph, you know, I think it's so,
00:13:57.780 | the talent, like the talent, and then you have Tatum.
00:14:00.580 | And, you know, it's.
00:14:03.540 | - You can't really say top five.
00:14:05.260 | - I think it's really impossible to say.
00:14:07.300 | I think maybe he likes some other player
00:14:10.060 | more than some other player, like his game or whatever.
00:14:12.500 | But I think it's really hard to put that top five
00:14:17.500 | or even top 10, to be honest.
00:14:21.340 | I think it's.
00:14:22.180 | - Yeah, any given night, guys can kind of float
00:14:24.500 | in and out of there, yeah, I agree.
00:14:26.580 | One thing that makes our team so special is
00:14:29.700 | your ability to be able to figure out defenses.
00:14:31.820 | So if they double, you know, from here,
00:14:33.660 | we always talk about it in walkthroughs,
00:14:35.420 | this is what we're doing.
00:14:36.340 | Or if they double from somewhere else,
00:14:39.340 | this is what we're doing.
00:14:40.180 | So one of the reasons we won a championship
00:14:42.100 | was your ability and our ability as a team
00:14:43.900 | to kind of figure out different team strategies.
00:14:46.340 | And we pretty much have come up with a plan
00:14:48.700 | for every strategy.
00:14:49.540 | - We had answers for everything.
00:14:50.860 | - Yeah, who do you think then like gave,
00:14:53.900 | what gives you personally the biggest challenge?
00:14:56.980 | Like defensively.
00:14:58.100 | - I think when, that was the bubble, right?
00:15:05.940 | When they had like, they had three, four big guys.
00:15:09.300 | - Oh yeah, the Lakers, AD, Dwyane.
00:15:11.620 | - Like AD, Dwyane.
00:15:13.740 | - Oh yeah, that was tough.
00:15:15.620 | - You know, because it's--
00:15:17.260 | - They could put a big guy on you,
00:15:18.420 | but they have another big guy.
00:15:19.260 | - Yeah, that kind of, it's like what Minnesota did us.
00:15:23.700 | You know, when they put Townsend and Rudy
00:15:27.340 | was like kind of behind him.
00:15:29.140 | I think those kind of situations that,
00:15:31.620 | but I think like my game, whatever, style, whatever it is,
00:15:38.580 | it's so like, I don't need just post-up.
00:15:42.100 | Like I can play pick and roll.
00:15:43.380 | I can set pick and roll, I can come off the screens.
00:15:45.660 | You know, I can just play in the open area.
00:15:48.660 | Like I think it's not just one thing
00:15:50.740 | that I'm doing on the floor.
00:15:54.980 | - I agree.
00:15:56.380 | Man, so outside of basketball,
00:15:59.380 | 'cause everyone knows you for a great basketball player,
00:16:01.300 | but you know, we're not gonna be doing this our whole lives.
00:16:03.820 | We probably got, you know.
00:16:05.780 | - 10 years top.
00:16:06.620 | - Five, 10 years.
00:16:07.860 | - Five probably for you.
00:16:08.700 | - No, no, five, 10, I don't know.
00:16:10.540 | - Where do you see yourself,
00:16:14.340 | I'm gonna say 15, 20 years from now.
00:16:16.460 | We've had the conversation before
00:16:18.100 | how one of your goals is to not have a phone.
00:16:21.620 | You wanna live like a normal person.
00:16:24.260 | Can you do that in Serbia?
00:16:25.580 | Or where do you see yourself in how you live in 15 years?
00:16:29.260 | - I think after the career's over,
00:16:32.980 | I think the old kind of publicity is gonna gone.
00:16:36.620 | And I think I'm gonna figure it out.
00:16:39.220 | But how I want to see myself is to be around the family.
00:16:43.620 | Spending days, probably my kid.
00:16:46.660 | Kid, right now one kid, but who knows.
00:16:49.460 | Maybe they're gonna play some sport.
00:16:50.940 | Maybe they're gonna do something interesting.
00:16:52.660 | Follow them a little bit.
00:16:54.300 | And spend the rest of the day with the horses, you know.
00:16:58.020 | I have a couple horses outside of Serbia in Italy,
00:17:00.740 | in Sweden, in France.
00:17:03.180 | Go, maybe race.
00:17:05.340 | Actually, that's kind of my secret goal to be a driver.
00:17:08.380 | Like to have fun, you know.
00:17:09.860 | Travel the world, or Europe, and race horses.
00:17:13.260 | That sounds fun.
00:17:14.100 | - Yeah, that sounds good, like I'm the same way.
00:17:17.340 | We actually have a team who's not really big
00:17:19.180 | into the, you know, the fame thing.
00:17:22.740 | Like there's a lot of guys that aren't really big
00:17:24.180 | into social media. - I think so too.
00:17:25.020 | - And I think that kind of is what makes us all
00:17:27.380 | enjoy each other.
00:17:28.220 | None of us is trying to like.
00:17:29.860 | - So I think that's cool.
00:17:31.140 | Besides that, I think my last question for you would be,
00:17:35.300 | what is your purpose, you think?
00:17:36.660 | Like besides inspiring kids to do basketball,
00:17:39.220 | I don't know if that's what your purpose is,
00:17:40.660 | but you know, you got a family now.
00:17:42.500 | What is your purpose, and why do you kind of feel
00:17:44.620 | like you're here?
00:17:45.460 | Like why do you think God gave you these talents?
00:17:47.860 | - When, if you remember, when we won the championship,
00:17:54.500 | they put like a video of the people,
00:17:57.300 | like celebrating at their homes.
00:17:59.100 | - Yeah.
00:17:59.940 | - I get the goosebumps, it's crazy.
00:18:01.820 | Like we affect so many people, just by playing basketball.
00:18:06.820 | So I think it's make people happy, you know,
00:18:09.900 | make other people happy.
00:18:11.460 | I think that's supposed to be our goal.
00:18:13.860 | Like that, when I realized, when we won the championship,
00:18:17.020 | I was like, for me, it's like, okay.
00:18:19.260 | I felt more relief than joy, if that makes any sense.
00:18:24.900 | And when I saw the video, I was like,
00:18:29.140 | oh, we affect so many people, like old, young kids,
00:18:33.900 | parents, like it's, it was like, this is a big thing,
00:18:39.300 | you know?
00:18:40.140 | - Yeah.
00:18:40.980 | - And by the end of the day, we were just playing basketball.
00:18:42.780 | So I think that's why we're on this planet Earth,
00:18:46.500 | to make other people happy.
00:18:49.020 | - Well, I think that's what makes you special, bro,
00:18:50.820 | is like your ability to be like selfless.
00:18:52.780 | Like it shows up in all areas of your life.
00:18:54.700 | The fact that, you know, on the court, how selfless you are,
00:18:57.180 | but also that you feel like your purpose
00:18:59.060 | is to make other people happy.
00:19:01.900 | The fact that even though you hate media, you know,
00:19:04.620 | I hit you, and I was like, bro,
00:19:05.740 | would you hop on this podcast?
00:19:07.100 | And you're like, yeah, bro, anytime, wherever you want.
00:19:09.180 | Like, I think that's something,
00:19:10.500 | another thing I admire about you.
00:19:11.820 | So I just appreciate you getting on.
00:19:13.300 | - Of course, I'm not gonna lie,
00:19:14.620 | the most, the best questions since I came to the NBA.
00:19:17.580 | For real, for real.
00:19:19.460 | - Appreciate you, though.
00:19:21.780 | My boy, I appreciate you.
00:19:23.220 | - Thank you, my friend.
00:19:24.060 | - Thank you, appreciate you.
00:19:24.900 | - Carry his mic out.
00:19:25.740 | - Yeah.
00:19:26.580 | - Man, Nikola Jokic.
00:19:31.660 | That dude is a one of a kind dude.
00:19:35.460 | I could truly say that.
00:19:36.420 | You know, he's someone who, he doesn't like media.
00:19:39.980 | He doesn't like media at all.
00:19:41.580 | You know, so for me to hit him up
00:19:43.740 | and for him to just be so, just hop on here, you know,
00:19:47.100 | just without even questioning what it was, what I'm doing.
00:19:50.420 | He just was like, yeah, brother, anytime, any place.
00:19:53.340 | It shows just the type of person he is.
00:19:55.460 | You know, at the end when he talked about his purpose
00:19:59.420 | and like how he truly just wants to inspire people
00:20:03.260 | and make people happy, it really shows who he is.
00:20:06.900 | He's a really low-key dude who never has been for the fame,
00:20:10.580 | never has been for his own glory.
00:20:12.620 | He gets kind of almost like a little shy almost
00:20:15.580 | or a little kind of like deflective
00:20:17.180 | when people are constantly awarding him
00:20:20.460 | or, you know, even when coach brings up his stats
00:20:23.340 | in the locker room, he's almost like deflective of it,
00:20:26.260 | trying to praise other people and things like that.
00:20:28.820 | So over the years in my career,
00:20:32.460 | like playing with Nikola has made me, you know,
00:20:35.620 | obviously a better player.
00:20:37.420 | You know, he gives me so many open looks,
00:20:39.580 | but a better person as well, more disciplined.
00:20:42.980 | I think more, definitely with the routine and stuff,
00:20:47.640 | he's definitely observing him and how he operates day-to-day
00:20:50.820 | has definitely helped me, but also the way he thinks,
00:20:53.900 | you know, how he is after a good game,
00:20:55.740 | how he is after a bad game.
00:20:57.260 | Just seeing his balance in life, you know.
00:21:01.260 | He's become a good friend of mine over the years,
00:21:03.860 | and I never would have thought that my first couple of years
00:21:06.620 | just because we're so different.
00:21:08.280 | I didn't understand his jokes.
00:21:11.100 | He didn't really understand my culture
00:21:13.740 | and how me and my friends joke around, so.
00:21:16.640 | But now it's crazy to see him kind of open up
00:21:18.820 | and just his personality has evolved
00:21:22.060 | and he's joking around just like us,
00:21:23.620 | and he's wanting to go out and go to dinners
00:21:26.340 | and do the things that we do.
00:21:28.580 | So it's been really enjoyable playing with Joker.
00:21:33.580 | What's another thing he talked about?
00:21:35.540 | I think just the not wanting to be on social media.
00:21:43.500 | He talked about one of his goals as, you know,
00:21:47.720 | when he's done playing, not wanting to even have a phone.
00:21:50.000 | This is something that we've talked about as well.
00:21:52.060 | We've had a lot of little conversations over the years
00:21:54.720 | where we're just chopping it up.
00:21:56.520 | I'll ask him questions, what he thinks about stuff,
00:21:58.280 | 'cause I just see how different he is.
00:21:59.560 | And he said, you know, one of his goals
00:22:01.760 | is to not even have a phone when he's done.
00:22:03.640 | I think that that is very admirable
00:22:06.540 | just because of the day and age we live in.
00:22:08.840 | You know, people, I don't know if it's an American thing,
00:22:12.920 | but people are so thirsty these days for clout,
00:22:16.700 | for attention, for one-upping other people,
00:22:19.400 | for, you know, self-glory and being the man.
00:22:22.900 | And that's one person.
00:22:23.840 | If there's anybody that I know that has the ability
00:22:26.700 | and the right to self-promote and show off
00:22:31.040 | that they're the man, it's Nikola.
00:22:32.480 | You know, he is back-to-back MVP, finals MVP,
00:22:36.480 | world champion, you know,
00:22:37.960 | and he keeps getting better every year.
00:22:39.320 | He probably could be the MVP, like,
00:22:41.920 | every year of his career 'til he's done
00:22:43.760 | just because of the way he fills up the stat sheet,
00:22:47.560 | what he does for our team.
00:22:48.640 | You know, as long as we keep our core together,
00:22:50.120 | we're gonna win a lot of games.
00:22:51.200 | So it's very realistic that he could be
00:22:53.120 | in the MVP conversation for the next five, six, seven years.
00:22:57.600 | So if there's anybody who could self-promote, it's him.
00:23:01.380 | But he chooses not to.
00:23:03.440 | He chooses not to have an Instagram.
00:23:05.000 | He chooses to keep his private life very private.
00:23:07.440 | He chooses not to do the media.
00:23:09.320 | And I just think that that is,
00:23:12.760 | like, that's a special characteristic
00:23:15.480 | and it's something that not only me
00:23:17.160 | but a lot of people can learn from
00:23:18.380 | because he has it all, you know.
00:23:21.080 | He is who he is, but he chooses to humble himself,
00:23:24.320 | to live his life, to, you know, make other people happy,
00:23:28.040 | inspire other people.
00:23:29.360 | And who knows?
00:23:31.680 | I don't know if it's an American thing,
00:23:33.060 | but we are just so absorbed in ourself, you know,
00:23:35.680 | in our own brand, pushing our own brand,
00:23:38.400 | worried about ourself, that that's something
00:23:40.320 | that I think we can learn from Nikola
00:23:42.440 | and just this episode of what he was talking about.
00:23:45.040 | Man, and then he talked about, you know, his wife
00:23:48.960 | and how he got married,
00:23:51.820 | how he knew it was the one or whatever.
00:23:53.760 | And that's weird because everyone I know
00:23:56.040 | in the NBA who's married,
00:23:57.280 | it's like someone from their childhood
00:24:00.120 | or someone who they grew up with,
00:24:01.560 | their childhood sweetheart.
00:24:04.000 | And so I didn't know that he knew her his whole life,
00:24:07.200 | but it makes sense.
00:24:08.600 | So he got a good one, you know, he got the kid.
00:24:12.240 | I've been over to his house
00:24:13.800 | and he lives just a very chill, quiet, normal life
00:24:17.480 | with his kid and his girl and, you know,
00:24:20.360 | his brothers are around.
00:24:22.500 | So I got to make it out to Serbia.
00:24:25.240 | AG went out there this past summer,
00:24:27.480 | so I'm gonna go mess with Joker
00:24:29.640 | this, probably this upcoming summer
00:24:32.040 | and go see what the horses are about.
00:24:34.360 | And yeah, go from there.
00:24:36.680 | 'Cause, you know, there's a lot to learn from that dude.
00:24:39.520 | And it's not even the fact that he's so profoundly,
00:24:44.120 | like, outwardly wise.
00:24:46.200 | It's just the fact of how he lives his life is different.
00:24:48.640 | And that's what I think that is unique.
00:24:51.400 | And that's something that people could do more of,
00:24:53.600 | you know, conforming to the normal way of life.
00:24:56.840 | You don't need to do that.
00:24:57.800 | You can follow your own heart.
00:25:00.200 | And I think that takes some inward, you know,
00:25:03.840 | getting to know yourself.
00:25:04.920 | For me lately, it's been journaling,
00:25:07.560 | figuring out what I really want in life,
00:25:09.280 | who I really want to be, what I really want to do,
00:25:12.160 | what my motives are, you know, what my purpose is.
00:25:15.320 | It takes some inward kind of like work, I would say,
00:25:20.080 | because there's always gonna be pressures from the outside
00:25:23.080 | that tell you who to be, how to act, all these things.
00:25:27.880 | But I think he knows himself.
00:25:30.140 | And that's why he comes off so authentic,
00:25:31.920 | because he's not trying to put on a front for anyone.
00:25:34.320 | He's not trying to live like anybody else.
00:25:38.120 | He just knows himself and he's unashamedly himself.
00:25:40.880 | And I think that that is another quality
00:25:44.400 | that is rare these days.
00:25:47.440 | He talked about our team, you know,
00:25:49.000 | and what the toughest matchups were for us
00:25:52.320 | and things like that.
00:25:53.640 | And we didn't really give away the blueprint
00:25:55.720 | because we found how to work our way around this.
00:25:58.600 | You know, the Wolves got us earlier this year
00:26:01.080 | by putting Cat on Yoke, and then they had Rudy roaming.
00:26:04.840 | There's been some other teams who have done similar things,
00:26:07.520 | which, I mean, it is. It is a good --
00:26:10.320 | It's a good formula, and I think the Timberwolves
00:26:12.340 | are really, really good this year.
00:26:14.160 | So they smacked us at their crib, you know,
00:26:16.480 | but that's nothing new for us.
00:26:18.880 | I would say some other teams have tried that,
00:26:20.280 | where they put a guy on Yoke,
00:26:22.040 | and then they have another bigger guy kind of roaming.
00:26:25.840 | But, man, so much of our success as a team
00:26:27.700 | has been because that dude can just --
00:26:29.520 | He's a wizard on the court.
00:26:30.920 | He figures stuff out, and then he'll talk to us,
00:26:33.160 | you know, and we figured, you know, just playing with him,
00:26:36.280 | we figured out ways to figure stuff out on our own, too.
00:26:40.440 | But, yeah, that is one of the reasons
00:26:42.320 | we won the championship, because every team
00:26:44.000 | that we played in our championship run
00:26:46.240 | tried different strategies.
00:26:47.440 | You know, if that didn't work,
00:26:48.280 | they're switching to something else.
00:26:51.400 | So, yeah, his IQ is his greatest attribute.
00:26:55.040 | His best skill, I would say, is his touch.
00:26:58.340 | You know, he doesn't miss those floaters,
00:26:59.900 | those layups around the rim.
00:27:01.540 | But his best attribute is his IQ
00:27:03.940 | and his ability to work around different defensive schemes
00:27:07.780 | that are thrown at us.
00:27:09.260 | Man, we got a squad.
00:27:11.620 | We really do.
00:27:12.420 | You know, our core of me, Jamal, AG, KCP, Big Fella,
00:27:18.900 | and, you know, the rest of our core of guys off the bench,
00:27:21.780 | CB, P-Watt, who am I missing?
00:27:25.020 | Really, we just got to -- we got a squad.
00:27:26.620 | You know, Julian is a rookie who is really, really good.
00:27:30.340 | He's not getting a lot of minutes right now,
00:27:31.620 | but he'll blossom.
00:27:34.260 | We got a squad, so I'm excited.
00:27:36.100 | It's crazy because I got drafted to Denver,
00:27:40.740 | so I've never really experienced being on another team.
00:27:43.820 | But from the stories that I hear of guys
00:27:46.380 | that have been traded to us, we have a different culture.
00:27:50.620 | You know, and I wouldn't really know that firsthand
00:27:52.980 | because I haven't seen these other teams,
00:27:54.380 | but everyone says, like, man, like, the way y'all operate,
00:27:57.540 | the way you play,
00:27:59.820 | the way you even act in the locker room,
00:28:02.780 | how y'all, like, enjoy each other's time off the court
00:28:06.860 | is different.
00:28:07.660 | We really got a team who enjoys being around each other.
00:28:10.420 | And, like I said, man, Joker has not always been someone
00:28:14.860 | that I can, like, really kick it with.
00:28:16.660 | Like, he really wasn't.
00:28:18.580 | I think we probably just found each other a little weird,
00:28:20.860 | you know, which is normal, I think, people coming from --
00:28:23.460 | So he would just stick to his guys from overseas,
00:28:26.060 | you know, Vladco and some of the strength trainers.
00:28:30.820 | But over the years, he's really become my boy.
00:28:33.720 | And we'll do stuff as a team.
00:28:35.880 | You know, when we were in San Diego for training camp,
00:28:39.260 | we went down to Tijuana.
00:28:40.480 | Almost got stuck over there one year
00:28:42.220 | because he didn't even bring his ID,
00:28:43.980 | so we almost got stuck in Mexico.
00:28:45.580 | And it was a whole ordeal, but we just had fun.
00:28:49.320 | We went to this little spot as a team, kicked it,
00:28:52.660 | probably came back way too late.
00:28:54.120 | I think we crossed the border back into America
00:28:56.220 | like 4:35 a.m.
00:28:59.460 | But we have a lot of stories now as a team.
00:29:01.580 | It's cool that I've gotten to be here my whole career
00:29:04.020 | and I haven't been traded around.
00:29:06.220 | That's pretty rare, so.
00:29:09.060 | Man, I couldn't ask for a better dude to share the court with.
00:29:15.320 | And, yeah, man, I forgot to ask him about his brothers.
00:29:18.780 | I want to ask him -- I should've asked him about his brothers
00:29:20.820 | because his brothers are some crazy dudes, you know.
00:29:25.420 | They'll be at the games,
00:29:26.680 | and, like, if we get into the slightest scuffle,
00:29:28.720 | they're standing up in their chairs.
00:29:29.920 | They're ready to go.
00:29:31.560 | You know, they're definitely ready to go whoop somebody.
00:29:34.360 | Like, his brothers got his back, and I see them all around.
00:29:38.380 | There's some unique dudes.
00:29:40.520 | They're a lot different than Yoke.
00:29:41.760 | Like, they carry themselves a lot different.
00:29:44.360 | But you know you can't play with Yoke
00:29:45.780 | because his brothers got his back,
00:29:46.880 | and that's kind of how me and my brothers are.
00:29:48.260 | Like, we all got each other's back.
00:29:50.320 | So it's cool to see that.
00:29:51.920 | He's really just a family guy at heart, man.
00:29:53.680 | He's a low-key, chill, funny family guy at heart
00:30:00.120 | who happens to be really good at basketball.
00:30:02.920 | He never thinks about the end goal of anything.
00:30:06.680 | I don't think he ever thought about getting MVP.
00:30:08.380 | He never cared about getting MVP.
00:30:10.220 | He never thought about winning a championship.
00:30:13.980 | He just followed the steps in front of him,
00:30:17.560 | and he was present in the moment,
00:30:19.060 | and these things happened to be --
00:30:20.780 | He talked about in the interview about, like, slowly,
00:30:23.420 | you know, he just went up, up, up, up, up.
00:30:26.160 | And I think it's because he never was thinking
00:30:28.320 | about the goals in mind.
00:30:30.760 | We have a saying in the weight room, "Habits, not goals."
00:30:34.320 | I think in America, we have this notion of,
00:30:38.820 | "You have to set these far-out goals,
00:30:40.720 | and these things will make you happy."
00:30:42.820 | But, you know, from my experience
00:30:46.380 | and something I've learned over time is,
00:30:48.420 | it's the process and it's the habits you build
00:30:50.680 | and the person you become
00:30:52.280 | that eventually allow you to reach your goals.
00:30:54.480 | If you just have this goal in mind
00:30:55.960 | and you're striving and stressing to get it,
00:30:58.380 | like, sometimes it will elude you
00:31:00.360 | because it causes you to be stressed out, anxious,
00:31:04.320 | and you really miss out on a big piece of life,
00:31:06.980 | which is the process,
00:31:08.380 | becoming who you need to be in the process.
00:31:12.780 | And that's something that our team as a whole
00:31:15.580 | kind of preaches is habits, not goals.
00:31:17.780 | We're not worried about winning a championship right now.
00:31:20.220 | We're worried about building the habits
00:31:23.220 | that will allow us to eventually win enough games
00:31:26.720 | to eventually win a championship.
00:31:28.320 | And that's something that I think,
00:31:30.560 | "Yeah, over here we miss.
00:31:31.920 | You know, we think that a certain goal
00:31:33.860 | or this thing or that thing will make us happy,
00:31:35.620 | and then we get it, and it makes us happy
00:31:38.520 | for a week or two, if that, and then you have a new goal,
00:31:43.460 | and you're not happy until you reach that goal."
00:31:46.680 | Yeah, I don't think that's the right way to live,
00:31:50.080 | but for some reason, you know, the American dream,
00:31:52.260 | that's the whole point of it is to, like,
00:31:56.560 | become somebody and do these big things,
00:31:58.780 | but you miss out on 99.9% of life
00:32:02.380 | because these goals that you may reach are, like,
00:32:05.320 | they're just a thing that happens to you.
00:32:06.980 | You know, from firsthand experience,
00:32:09.420 | I thought all growing up, you know,
00:32:11.360 | my goal was to reach the NBA, and boom, I got it.
00:32:14.620 | Now I'm in the NBA. Now I'm not playing,
00:32:16.280 | and I really want to play, and I'm like, "Man,
00:32:17.660 | if I could just get on the court, I'd be happy."
00:32:19.980 | I start getting a little bit of time.
00:32:21.620 | That fulfilled me for a second, but not really.
00:32:24.280 | Then I'm like, "Man, I got to be a starter.
00:32:26.020 | I got to, you know, work hard enough to be a starter."
00:32:30.020 | Became a starter on the team, and then, you know, that's cool,
00:32:33.880 | but now you have bigger goals. You want to be an all-star.
00:32:35.860 | You want to this. You want to that.
00:32:37.180 | So over the time of playing with Joker
00:32:39.820 | and seeing how those things don't even cross his mind
00:32:43.780 | is something that I've been able to adapt,
00:32:45.660 | you know, and just self-reflection as well.
00:32:47.320 | You see, you know, people out in the world
00:32:49.720 | that have these goals, and then they're not happy
00:32:52.260 | at the end of them, so it's been a process for me,
00:32:54.760 | but that's something that I think I've grown in as well.
00:32:59.620 | So, man, habits, not goals.
00:33:02.720 | That's just the whole motto, something he lives by.
00:33:05.560 | That's something I've learned to live by,
00:33:07.580 | and it keeps you at peace through the hard times,
00:33:09.460 | and it makes you look at failures as learning lessons
00:33:13.420 | and not -- they're not failures.
00:33:17.380 | They're really learning lessons if you allow them to be,
00:33:19.880 | and you can build yourself through the failures,
00:33:22.220 | sometimes even more than the success.
00:33:23.960 | So, yeah, man, this episode is a special one, obviously.
00:33:30.320 | I'm glad that Joker got on.
00:33:32.060 | Y'all got to see a little bit of his personality,
00:33:33.860 | how goofy he is off the court.
00:33:37.320 | So, yeah, man, Curious Mike out.
00:33:39.180 | Appreciate y'all listening to it.