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 now
00:00:34.400 | that you have achieved so much at so young?
00:00:37.240 | - 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
00:01:01.640 | and you're getting obsessed with winning and that lifestyle.
00:01:05.760 | It's really, we have fun when it's winning.
00:01:08.240 | - Yeah, we talked about that yesterday.
00:01:10.200 | Yeah, like, and when we lose, it's like.
00:01:12.200 | - It's like, no way.
00:01:13.960 | - Yeah, we don't feel right.
00:01:15.280 | We won so much now that we just don't feel right losing.
00:01:17.520 | - 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,
00:02:02.420 | but I just accept it and I deal with it
00:02:04.180 | 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 didn't choose the right sport.
00:02:23.580 | 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.
00:02:42.260 | 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 kinda 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 kinda 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, you know?
00:03:26.180 | - No, I agree.
00:03:27.020 | 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, you know, you carry pressure
00:03:32.220 | 'cause you just seem so, you know, nonchalant, non-caring
00:03:35.260 | 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 or is this something,
00:03:45.500 | you know, that you carry with you even at home
00:03:47.820 | or like do you separate the two?
00:03:50.140 | - I think you, like my game starts this night, tonight,
00:03:55.140 | 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.
00:04:11.220 | - 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, no.
00:04:28.540 | 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
00:04:34.540 | sometimes 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
00:04:46.380 | and like, it's not something that I'm like,
00:04:48.460 | I need to do this, you know.
00:04:49.580 | So I think that helps me to maybe alleviate the pressure.
00:04:54.580 | Like, because pressure is the game.
00:04:58.740 | Routine or warmup doesn't need to be pressure, you know.
00:05:02.580 | - Yeah, this is part of your life.
00:05:03.420 | - Yeah, but my game starts probably tonight.
00:05:06.180 | Like even now you kind of start thinking, okay,
00:05:08.700 | like you, you have max truths
00:05:10.420 | or whoever is your next opponent tomorrow,
00:05:14.060 | like, aha, this is what he's going to do.
00:05:16.140 | Run off, non-run off, shooting, not shooting,
00:05:19.340 | dribble, like whatever.
00:05:20.540 | He's a good in a pocket.
00:05:22.180 | For me, he's a good post-up player.
00:05:23.980 | I need to box him out.
00:05:25.380 | 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.
00:05:30.220 | Like slowly kind of build up.
00:05:33.580 | - To the actual game.
00:05:34.980 | - Preparing myself to the game.
00:05:37.340 | And I love to be prepared.
00:05:39.860 | That helps.
00:05:40.700 | Maybe actually that helps me with the pressure too.
00:05:43.220 | Like being prepared for the game.
00:05:44.500 | Like, you know, I'm really good at reading the plays
00:05:47.260 | and like knowing what they're going to run.
00:05:49.100 | And that kind of helped me with the pressure.
00:05:53.140 | - Cause you just.
00:05:54.140 | - Okay, I know what's going to happen.
00:05:55.340 | You know, it's.
00:05:56.940 | - Yeah, there's a call out, call out plays
00:05:59.860 | that we didn't even go through
00:06:01.820 | and walk through or anything.
00:06:03.820 | - I guess the Clippers, you remember?
00:06:05.020 | - Yeah.
00:06:05.860 | - Mike's standing here, right here.
00:06:07.220 | - Bro, I was like, wait, what?
00:06:09.460 | I remember that.
00:06:10.580 | - But man, as far as routine, that was one of my questions
00:06:12.780 | because early on in my career,
00:06:15.900 | your routine wasn't the same as it is now.
00:06:18.260 | You know, I remember you were way more,
00:06:20.420 | I don't know if it wasn't that you didn't care
00:06:21.940 | about basketball as much,
00:06:22.820 | but it just seemed like you didn't,
00:06:24.740 | you just were good,
00:06:25.780 | but it didn't seem like you cared as much.
00:06:27.540 | You didn't put as much effort into your body.
00:06:29.500 | You didn't.
00:06:30.340 | - Oh yeah, the beginning of my career was,
00:06:32.380 | you know, I was just,
00:06:35.260 | I came here just to make it, let's say it like that.
00:06:38.260 | You know, I came here as a third, fourth option,
00:06:41.580 | fifth option in some,
00:06:43.620 | so I was just kind of trying to play and to,
00:06:46.620 | 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,
00:06:56.980 | I'm going to say for me right now, basketball is easy.
00:06:59.700 | You know, basketball is something that,
00:07:01.620 | 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.
00:07:23.100 | 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.
00:08:36.380 | And I really wish my kid or kids in the future
00:08:38.820 | who knows really remember me as a dad,
00:08:42.620 | not as a basketball player, you know.
00:08:44.780 | I think that's gonna,
00:08:46.020 | I'm gonna say that's gonna be my goal in life.
00:08:49.740 | And to not have phone,
00:08:52.700 | I think that's another big goal of mine.
00:08:56.380 | Just to be, to live in the moment.
00:09:01.740 | Like you said, like being a normal person,
00:09:03.420 | living in the moment,
00:09:04.500 | like go drink with your buddy or go have lunch
00:09:09.180 | or go play with the kids or go drive horses.
00:09:11.660 | And nobody's gonna make a big deal of that.
00:09:14.100 | Like I feel now, like even if you go outside
00:09:19.100 | and do anything, throw something next to the trash can,
00:09:23.700 | oh, Mike didn't throw this in the trash.
00:09:25.260 | Like it's, people are making a big deal
00:09:26.980 | of such a small things.
00:09:28.500 | And just feel sad whenever you go to the bar, restaurant,
00:09:33.500 | some game, people are just taking the phones
00:09:37.100 | and out and trying to record you.
00:09:39.220 | I think that's really, I'm gonna say rude.
00:09:42.700 | - Yeah.
00:09:43.540 | - It's because it's your life.
00:09:44.900 | I'm not, it's not that I'm showing myself.
00:09:48.500 | I'm just who I am, living your life.
00:09:51.380 | - Yeah, you're someone who keeps your private life
00:09:53.020 | very private.
00:09:53.860 | Like I remember when you did get married,
00:09:55.220 | like I don't even think anybody really knew about it.
00:09:57.980 | - Yeah.
00:09:59.140 | - So when it comes to that, how did you meet your wife, man?
00:10:02.220 | 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 | - Oh, so 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.
00:10:37.780 | And she was playing volleyball in Oklahoma.
00:10:42.780 | 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 to just go,
00:10:59.660 | told my life go slowly, like uphill, slowly.
00:11:03.020 | I never had some to knock on wood.
00:11:06.940 | 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,
00:11:15.940 | 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 Nerkic might've been ahead of you at that time.
00:11:25.380 | 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,
00:11:40.140 | 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, maybe one of the questions from earlier,
00:11:48.740 | motivation, is that kind of don't relax.
00:11:52.980 | If you relax, 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?
00:12:02.220 | Yes, but when I came here, I was a fifth option.
00:12:05.780 | There was like JJ Hickson, Kenneth, Joffrey, and Nerk,
00:12:09.660 | and they were all in front of me.
00:12:10.980 | And then one year, me and Nerk started to play together.
00:12:14.180 | That didn't work well.
00:12:15.780 | And, I mean, I asked to go to the bench,
00:12:19.460 | 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 was supposed to play or whatever.
00:12:32.020 | So, and since then, a couple months after that,
00:12:36.600 | I was starting, I was in the starting unit,
00:12:38.260 | and like I said, it's uphill, slowly uphill,
00:12:41.880 | the whole life, I'm gonna say.
00:12:44.900 | - I think that's crazy.
00:12:46.140 | This is another conversation we had.
00:12:50.380 | Well, actually, backtrack.
00:12:51.740 | I wanna ask you this, because this is a conversation
00:12:53.700 | that kids in America always have.
00:12:55.420 | You know, even NBA players in America,
00:12:56.660 | I don't know if it's the same in Serbia,
00:12:58.460 | we always talk about who's the best players.
00:13:00.420 | And the big conversation on social media is, you know,
00:13:02.460 | who's the best players in the league, who's top five.
00:13:05.140 | But no one ever hears from, you know,
00:13:07.180 | I think right now, probably,
00:13:08.460 | you are the undisputed best player in the world.
00:13:11.500 | So excluding yourself,
00:13:13.660 | who would you say is, you think it right now
00:13:16.420 | in the league is top five?
00:13:18.900 | - Right now in the league?
00:13:19.980 | - Right now in the league.
00:13:21.300 | It's tough, there's a lot of talent in the league right now.
00:13:31.900 | - I think there is a lot of talent.
00:13:36.800 | I think, I'm gonna say, Joel, Luka,
00:13:43.060 | I mean, you gotta put KD and LeBron there,
00:13:46.900 | so even they're a little bit older,
00:13:49.060 | but I think they can still perform.
00:13:51.580 | - You still got, like, Steph, you still got--
00:13:55.860 | - Steph, you know, I think it's so,
00:13:57.740 | the talent, and then you have Tatum and--
00:14:01.460 | - Giannis.
00:14:02.300 | - Giannis, you know, it's--
00:14:04.380 | - You can't really say top five.
00:14:05.220 | - I think it's really impossible to say.
00:14:07.260 | I think maybe you like some other player
00:14:10.020 | more than some other player, like his game or whatever,
00:14:12.460 | but I think it's really hard to put that top five,
00:14:17.460 | or even top 10, to be honest.
00:14:21.300 | I think it's--
00:14:22.140 | - Yeah, any given night, guys can kind of float
00:14:24.460 | in and out of there, yeah, I agree.
00:14:26.540 | One thing that makes our team so special
00:14:28.300 | is your ability to be able to figure out defenses.
00:14:31.780 | So if they double, you know, from here,
00:14:33.620 | we always talk about it in walkthroughs,
00:14:35.380 | this is what we're doing.
00:14:36.260 | Or if they double from somewhere else,
00:14:39.300 | this is what we're doing.
00:14:40.140 | So one of the reasons we won a championship
00:14:42.060 | was your ability and our ability as a team
00:14:43.900 | to kind of figure out different team strategies,
00:14:46.300 | and we pretty much have come up with a plan
00:14:48.660 | for every strategy.
00:14:49.500 | - We had the answer for everything.
00:14:50.820 | - Yeah, who do you think then gave what gives you,
00:14:55.300 | you personally, the biggest challenge, like defensively?
00:14:58.100 | - I think when, that was the bubble, right?
00:15:07.060 | When they had like, they had three, four big guys.
00:15:09.220 | - Oh yeah, the Lakers, AD, Dwight.
00:15:11.620 | - Yeah, they had like AD, Dwell.
00:15:13.700 | - Oh yeah, that was tough.
00:15:15.580 | - You know, because it's--
00:15:17.220 | - They could put a big guy on you,
00:15:18.380 | but they have another big guy.
00:15:19.220 | - Yeah, that kind of, it's like what Minnesota did us,
00:15:23.660 | you know, when they put Townsend,
00:15:25.420 | and Rudy was like kind of behind him.
00:15:29.100 | I think those kind of situations that,
00:15:33.860 | 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.
00:15:43.340 | 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.
00:15:48.620 | Like, I think it's not just one thing
00:15:50.700 | that I'm doing on the floor.
00:15:54.940 | - I agree.
00:15:56.340 | Man, so outside of basketball,
00:15:59.380 | 'cause everyone knows you for a great basketball player,
00:16:01.260 | but you know, we're not gonna be doing this our whole lives.
00:16:03.780 | We probably got, you know, 10 years top.
00:16:06.660 | - Five, 10 years.
00:16:07.820 | - Five probably for you.
00:16:08.740 | - No, no, five, 10, I don't know.
00:16:10.700 | - 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, you know, 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 whole 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,
00:16:46.700 | kid right now, one kid, but who knows.
00:16:49.500 | Maybe they're gonna say play some sport.
00:16:50.980 | Maybe they're gonna do something interesting,
00:16:52.700 | follow them a little bit,
00:16:54.340 | and spend the rest of the day with the horses, you know.
00:16:58.060 | I have a couple horses outside of Serbia,
00:17:00.220 | in Italy, in Sweden, in France.
00:17:03.220 | Go, maybe race, actually that's kind of my secret goal,
00:17:06.900 | to be a driver, like to have fun, you know.
00:17:09.900 | Travel the world, or Europe, and race horses.
00:17:13.180 | That sounds fun.
00:17:14.140 | - Yeah, that sounds good, like I'm the same way.
00:17:17.380 | We actually have a team who's not really big
00:17:19.220 | into the, you know, the fame thing.
00:17:22.780 | Like there's a lot of guys
00:17:23.700 | that aren't really big into social media.
00:17:25.100 | And I think that kind of is what
00:17:26.940 | makes us all enjoy each other.
00:17:28.020 | None of us is trying to like,
00:17:29.900 | so I think that's cool.
00:17:31.180 | Besides that, I think my last question for you would be,
00:17:35.340 | what is your purpose, you think?
00:17:36.700 | Like besides inspiring kids to do basketball,
00:17:39.260 | I don't know if that's what your purpose is,
00:17:40.700 | but you know, you got a family now.
00:17:42.540 | What is your purpose,
00:17:43.580 | and why do you kind of feel like you're here?
00:17:45.300 | Like why do you think God gave you these talents?
00:17:47.780 | - When, if you remember, when we won the championship,
00:17:54.540 | they put like a video of the people,
00:17:57.340 | like celebrating at their homes.
00:17:59.100 | - Yeah.
00:17:59.940 | - I get goosebumps, crazy.
00:18:01.780 | Like we affect so many people,
00:18:04.260 | just by playing basketball.
00:18:07.540 | So I think it's make people happy,
00:18:09.500 | you know, 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,
00:18:15.900 | when we won the championship,
00:18:16.900 | that 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,
00:18:29.180 | oh, we affect so many people,
00:18:32.020 | like old, young kids, parents.
00:18:35.900 | Like it's, it was like, this is a big thing, you know?
00:18:39.780 | - Yeah.
00:18:40.620 | - And by the end of the day, we were just playing basketball.
00:18:42.820 | So I think, I think that's why we're on this planet Earth,
00:18:46.540 | to make other people happy.
00:18:49.060 | - Well, I think that's what makes you special, bro,
00:18:50.860 | is like your ability to be like selfless.
00:18:52.820 | Like it shows up in all areas of your life,
00:18:54.740 | the fact that you don't want to court how selfless you are,
00:18:57.220 | but also that you feel like your purpose
00:18:59.060 | is to make other people happy.
00:19:01.940 | The fact that even though you hate media,
00:19:04.300 | you know, I hit you and I was like, bro,
00:19:05.780 | would you hop on this podcast?
00:19:07.140 | And you're like, yeah, bro, anytime,
00:19:08.380 | wherever, whenever you want.
00:19:09.220 | Like, I think that's something,
00:19:10.540 | another thing I admire about you.
00:19:11.860 | So I just appreciate you getting on.
00:19:13.340 | - Of course, I'm not gonna lie,
00:19:14.660 | the best questions since I came to the NBA.
00:19:17.500 | For real, for real.
00:19:19.460 | - Appreciate you, though.
00:19:21.820 | My boy, I appreciate you.
00:19:23.260 | - Thank you, my friend.
00:19:24.100 | - Thank you, appreciate it.
00:19:24.940 | - Carry his mic out.
00:19:25.780 | - Yeah.
00:19:26.620 | (hip hop music)
00:19:30.020 | - Man, Nikola Jokic.
00:19:31.780 | That dude is a one of a kind dude.
00:19:35.460 | I could truly say that, you know.
00:19:37.020 | He's someone who, he doesn't like media.
00:19:39.980 | He doesn't like media at all, you know.
00:19:41.980 | So for me to hit him up and for him to just be so,
00:19:45.140 | just hop on here, you know,
00:19:47.100 | just without even questioning what it was, what I'm doing.
00:19:50.380 | 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,
00:20:47.660 | he's definitely, observing him and how he operates day to day
00:20:50.860 | has definitely helped me, but also the way he thinks,
00:20:53.940 | you know, how he is after a good game,
00:20:55.780 | how he is after a bad game.
00:20:57.300 | Just seeing his balance in life, you know.
00:21:01.300 | He's become a good friend of mine over the years,
00:21:03.900 | and I never would have thought that my first couple of years
00:21:06.660 | just because we're so different.
00:21:08.340 | I didn't understand his jokes.
00:21:11.140 | He didn't really understand my culture
00:21:13.780 | and how me and my friends joke around.
00:21:16.660 | But now it's crazy to see him kind of open up
00:21:18.860 | and just his personality has evolved
00:21:22.100 | and he's joking around just like us,
00:21:23.660 | and he's wanting to go out and go to dinners
00:21:26.380 | and do the things that we do.
00:21:28.620 | So it's been really enjoyable playing with Joker.
00:21:33.620 | What's another thing he talked about?
00:21:35.580 | I think just the not wanting to be on social media.
00:21:43.540 | He talked about one of his goals as,
00:21:46.620 | you know, when he's done playing,
00:21:48.620 | not wanting to even have a phone.
00:21:50.060 | This is something that we've talked about as well.
00:21:52.100 | We've had a lot of little conversations over the years
00:21:54.780 | where we're just chopping it up.
00:21:56.580 | I'll ask him questions, what he thinks about stuff,
00:21:58.340 | 'cause I just see how different he is.
00:21:59.620 | And he said, you know, one of his goals
00:22:01.780 | is to not even have a phone when he's done.
00:22:03.660 | I think that that is very admirable
00:22:06.580 | just because of the day and age we live in.
00:22:08.860 | You know, people, I don't know if it's an American thing,
00:22:12.540 | but people are so thirsty these days for clout,
00:22:16.660 | for attention, for one-upping other people,
00:22:19.380 | for, you know, self-glory and being the man.
00:22:22.860 | And that's one person.
00:22:23.780 | If there's anybody that I know
00:22:25.220 | that has the ability and the right to self-promote
00:22:29.380 | and show off that they're the man is Nikola.
00:22:32.460 | You know, he is back-to-back MVP,
00:22:35.340 | finals MVP, world champion, you know,
00:22:37.900 | and he keeps getting better every year.
00:22:39.300 | He probably could be the MVP, like,
00:22:41.860 | every year of his career 'til he's done
00:22:43.700 | just because of the way he fills up the stat sheet,
00:22:47.540 | what he does for our team.
00:22:48.620 | You know, as long as we keep our core together,
00:22:50.080 | we're gonna win a lot of games.
00:22:51.140 | So it's very realistic that he could be
00:22:53.060 | in the MVP conversation for the next five, six, seven years.
00:22:57.560 | So if there's anybody who could self-promote, it's him.
00:23:01.340 | But he chooses not to.
00:23:03.420 | He chooses not to have an Instagram.
00:23:04.980 | He chooses to keep his private life very private.
00:23:07.380 | He chooses not to do the media.
00:23:09.260 | And I just think that that is,
00:23:12.700 | like, that's a special characteristic
00:23:15.440 | and it's something that not only me,
00:23:17.120 | but a lot of people can learn from
00:23:18.340 | because he has it all, you know.
00:23:21.040 | He is who he is, but he chooses to humble himself,
00:23:24.260 | to live his life, to, you know, make other people happy,
00:23:28.020 | inspire other people.
00:23:29.320 | And who knows?
00:23:31.660 | I don't know if it's an American thing,
00:23:33.020 | but we are just so absorbed in ourself, you know,
00:23:35.620 | in our own brand, pushing our own brand.
00:23:38.380 | Worried about ourself.
00:23:39.680 | That's something that I think we can learn from Nicola
00:23:42.380 | and just this episode of what he was talking about.
00:23:44.940 | Man, and then he talked about, you know, his wife
00:23:48.940 | and how he got married,
00:23:51.780 | how he knew it was the one or whatever.
00:23:53.700 | And that's weird because everyone I know
00:23:55.980 | in the NBA who's married,
00:23:57.260 | it's like someone from their childhood
00:24:00.060 | or someone who they grew up with,
00:24:01.540 | their childhood sweetheart.
00:24:03.980 | And so I didn't know that he knew her his whole life,
00:24:07.220 | but it makes sense.
00:24:08.600 | So he got a good one.
00:24:10.580 | You know, he got the kid.
00:24:12.220 | I've been over to his house
00:24:13.780 | and he lives just a very chill, quiet, normal life
00:24:17.460 | 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.
00:24:25.220 | AG went out there this past summer.
00:24:27.500 | So I'm going to go mess with Joker
00:24:29.620 | this, probably this upcoming summer
00:24:32.020 | and go see what the horses are about.
00:24:34.340 | And yeah, go from there 'cause, you know,
00:24:38.100 | there's a lot to learn from that dude.
00:24:40.540 | And it's not even the fact that he's so profoundly,
00:24:44.100 | like, outwardly wise.
00:24:46.180 | It's just the fact of how he lives his life is different.
00:24:48.620 | And that's what I think that is unique.
00:24:51.380 | And that's something that people could do more of,
00:24:53.580 | you know, conforming to the normal way of life.
00:24:56.820 | You don't need to do that.
00:24:57.780 | You can follow your own heart.
00:25:00.180 | And I think that takes some inward, you know,
00:25:03.860 | getting to know yourself.
00:25:04.940 | For me lately, it's been journaling,
00:25:07.580 | figuring out what I really want in life,
00:25:09.300 | who I really want to be, what I really want to do,
00:25:12.140 | what my motives are, you know, what my purpose is.
00:25:15.340 | It takes some inward kind of like work, I would say,
00:25:20.080 | because there's always going to be pressures
00:25:22.200 | from the outside that tell you who to be,
00:25:25.320 | how to act, all these things.
00:25:27.900 | But I think he knows himself.
00:25:30.140 | And that's why he comes off so authentic,
00:25:31.940 | because he's not trying to put on a front for anyone.
00:25:34.300 | He's not trying to live like anybody else.
00:25:38.140 | He just knows himself and he's unashamedly himself.
00:25:40.900 | And I think that that is another quality
00:25:43.740 | that is rare these days.
00:25:47.460 | He talked about our team, you know,
00:25:49.020 | and what the toughest matchups were for us
00:25:52.320 | and things like that.
00:25:53.660 | And we didn't really give away the blueprint
00:25:55.740 | because we found how to work our way around this.
00:25:58.580 | You know, the Wolves got us earlier this year
00:26:01.060 | by putting Cat on Yoke and then they had Rudy roaming.
00:26:04.860 | There's been some other teams who have done
00:26:07.020 | similar things, which I mean, it is, it is a good,
00:26:10.300 | it's a good formula.
00:26:11.260 | And I think the Timberwolves are really,
00:26:12.700 | really good this year.
00:26:14.140 | So they smacked us at their crib, you know,
00:26:16.540 | but that's nothing new for us.
00:26:18.900 | I would say some other teams have tried that
00:26:20.300 | where they put a guy on Yoke
00:26:22.060 | and then they have another bigger guy kind of roaming.
00:26:25.560 | But man, so much of our success as a team has been
00:26:28.000 | because that dude can just, he's a wizard on the court.
00:26:30.720 | He figures stuff out and then he'll talk to us, you know,
00:26:33.480 | and we figured, you know, just playing with him,
00:26:36.320 | we figured out ways to figure stuff out on our own too.
00:26:39.080 | But yeah, that is one of the reasons
00:26:42.360 | we won the championship because every team
00:26:44.040 | that we played in our championship run
00:26:46.280 | tried different strategies.
00:26:47.460 | You know, if that didn't work,
00:26:48.320 | they're switching to something else.
00:26:51.400 | So yeah, his IQ is his greatest attribute.
00:26:55.000 | His best skill, I would say, is his touch.
00:26:58.320 | You know, he doesn't miss those floaters,
00:26:59.920 | those layups around the rim,
00:27:01.520 | but his best attribute is his IQ
00:27:03.920 | and his ability to work around different defensive schemes
00:27:07.800 | that are thrown at us.
00:27:09.240 | Man, we got a squad.
00:27:10.600 | We really do.
00:27:12.400 | You know, our core of me, Jamal, AG, KCP, Big Fella,
00:27:18.920 | and, you know, the rest of our core of guys off the bench,
00:27:21.800 | CB, P-Watt, who am I missing?
00:27:25.000 | Really, we just got a squad.
00:27:26.640 | You know, Julian is a rookie who is really, really good.
00:27:30.360 | He's not getting a lot of minutes right now,
00:27:31.680 | but he'll blossom.
00:27:34.280 | We got a squad, so I'm excited.
00:27:36.120 | It's crazy because I got drafted to Denver,
00:27:39.640 | but so I've never really experienced being on another team,
00:27:43.800 | but from the stories that I hear of guys
00:27:46.400 | that have been traded to us,
00:27:49.040 | we have a different culture, you know?
00:27:51.000 | And I wouldn't really know that firsthand
00:27:53.040 | because I haven't seen these other teams,
00:27:54.440 | but everyone says, like, man, like,
00:27:56.480 | the way y'all operate, the way you play,
00:27:59.840 | the way you even act in the locker room,
00:28:02.800 | how y'all, like, enjoy each other's time off the court
00:28:06.880 | is different.
00:28:07.720 | We really got a team who enjoys being around each other.
00:28:10.400 | And like I said, man,
00:28:12.200 | Joker has not always been someone
00:28:14.880 | that I can, like, really kick it with.
00:28:16.680 | Like, he really wasn't.
00:28:18.560 | I think we probably just found each other a little weird,
00:28:20.880 | you know, which is normal.
00:28:21.800 | I think people coming from...
00:28:23.440 | So he would just stick to his guys from overseas,
00:28:26.080 | you know, Vlad Coe and some of the strength trainers.
00:28:30.840 | 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,
00:28:39.280 | we went down to Tijuana,
00:28:40.480 | almost got stuck over there one year
00:28:42.240 | because he didn't even bring his ID.
00:28:44.000 | So we almost got stuck in Mexico
00:28:45.600 | and it was a whole ordeal.
00:28:48.400 | But we just had fun.
00:28:49.320 | We went to this little spot as a team, kicked it,
00:28:52.560 | probably came back way too late.
00:28:54.160 | I think we crossed the border back into America
00:28:56.240 | like 4.35 AM.
00:28:58.400 | But we have a lot of stories now as a team.
00:29:01.640 | It's cool that I've gotten to be here my whole career
00:29:04.080 | and I haven't been traded around.
00:29:06.240 | That's pretty rare.
00:29:07.080 | So, man, I couldn't ask for a better dude
00:29:10.920 | to share the court with.
00:29:13.200 | And yeah, man, I forgot to ask him about his brothers.
00:29:18.760 | I wanna ask him, I should've asked him about his brothers
00:29:20.840 | because his brothers are some crazy dudes, you know?
00:29:24.960 | They'll be at the games
00:29:26.680 | and like if we get into the slightest scuffle,
00:29:28.760 | they're standing up in their chairs, they're ready to go.
00:29:31.560 | You know, they're definitely ready to go whoop somebody.
00:29:34.400 | Like his brothers have got his back
00:29:36.520 | and I see them all around.
00:29:38.400 | There's some unique dudes.
00:29:40.560 | They're a lot different than Yoak.
00:29:41.760 | Like they carry themselves a lot different.
00:29:44.240 | But you know you can't play with Yoak
00:29:45.880 | 'cause his brother's got his back
00:29:46.920 | and that's kinda how me and my brothers are.
00:29:48.320 | Like we all got each other's back.
00:29:50.320 | So it's cool to see that.
00:29:51.960 | He's really just a family guy at heart, man.
00:29:53.760 | He's a low-key, chill, funny family guy at heart
00:29:58.760 | who happens to be really good at basketball.
00:30:02.920 | He never thinks about the end goal of anything.
00:30:06.720 | I don't think he ever thought about getting MVP.
00:30:08.400 | He never cared about getting MVP.
00:30:10.240 | He never thought about winning a championship.
00:30:13.880 | He just followed the steps in front of him
00:30:17.600 | and he was present in the moment
00:30:19.040 | and these things happen to be,
00:30:20.800 | he talked about in the interview about like slowly,
00:30:23.400 | you know, he just went up, up, up, up, up.
00:30:26.160 | And I think it's because he never was thinking
00:30:28.360 | about the goals in mind.
00:30:29.840 | We have a saying in the weight room, habits, not goals.
00:30:34.320 | I think in America, we have this notion
00:30:37.680 | of you have to set these far out goals
00:30:40.800 | and these things will make you happy.
00:30:42.640 | But, you know, from my experience
00:30:46.440 | and something I've learned over time is it's the process
00:30:49.680 | and it's the habits you build 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
00:30:56.000 | and you're striving and stressing to get it,
00:30:58.360 | like sometimes it will elude you
00:31:00.360 | because it causes you to be stressed out, anxious,
00:31:04.360 | and you really miss out on a big piece of life,
00:31:07.020 | which is the process, becoming who you need to be
00:31:09.720 | in the process.
00:31:12.840 | And that's something that our team as a whole
00:31:15.560 | kind of preaches is habits, not goals.
00:31:17.800 | We're not worried about winning a championship right now.
00:31:20.280 | We're worried about building the habits
00:31:23.260 | that will allow us to eventually win enough games
00:31:26.760 | to eventually win a championship.
00:31:28.360 | And that's something that I think, yeah, over here we miss.
00:31:31.960 | You know, we think that the certain goal or this thing
00:31:34.560 | or that thing will make us happy and then we get it.
00:31:36.720 | And it makes us happy for a week or two, if that.
00:31:41.720 | And then you have a new goal
00:31:43.420 | and you're not happy until you reach that goal.
00:31:45.820 | Yeah, I don't think that's the right way to live.
00:31:49.040 | But for some reason, you know, the American dream,
00:31:52.260 | that's the whole point of it is to like become somebody
00:31:57.260 | and do these big things, but you miss out on 99.9% of life
00:32:02.420 | 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,
00:32:09.400 | I thought all growing up, you know,
00:32:11.380 | my goal was to reach the NBA and boom, I got it.
00:32:14.620 | Now I'm in the NBA.
00:32:15.460 | Now I'm not playing and I really want to play.
00:32:17.140 | And I'm like, man, if I could just get on the court,
00:32:18.740 | I'd be happy.
00:32:19.980 | I started getting a little bit of time.
00:32:21.620 | That fulfilled me for a second, but not really.
00:32:24.260 | Then I'm like, man, I gotta be a starter.
00:32:26.020 | I gotta, you know, work hard enough to be a starter.
00:32:28.720 | Became a starter on the team.
00:32:32.520 | And then, you know, that's cool,
00:32:33.900 | but now you have bigger goals.
00:32:35.060 | You want to be an all-star.
00:32:35.920 | You want to this, you want to that.
00:32:36.880 | So over the time of playing with Joker
00:32:39.860 | and seeing how those things don't even cross his mind,
00:32:43.820 | it's something that I've been able to adapt, you know,
00:32:45.980 | and just self-reflection as well.
00:32:47.380 | You see, you know, people out in the world
00:32:49.820 | that have these goals and then they're not happy
00:32:52.300 | at the end of them.
00:32:53.140 | So it's been a process for me,
00:32:54.820 | but that's something that I think I've grown in as well.
00:32:59.660 | So man, habits, not goals.
00:33:02.700 | That's just the whole motto.
00:33:04.460 | Something he lives by.
00:33:05.620 | That's something I've learned to live by.
00:33:07.620 | And it keeps you at peace through the hard times.
00:33:09.500 | And it makes you look at failures as learning lessons
00:33:13.420 | and not, they're not failures.
00:33:17.420 | 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.
00:33:23.980 | So yeah, man, this episode is a special one, obviously.
00:33:28.900 | 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.
00:33:35.700 | So yeah, man, Curious Mike out.
00:33:39.220 | Appreciate y'all listening to it.