Nikola Jovic Can't Stand Nikola Jokic's Trash Talk

The bond between members of the Serbian national team is as tight-knit as can be. In the case of Nikola Jokic and Nikola Jovic, that means looking for opportunities to team up in the NBA and occasionally engaging in friendly smack talk.

In an interview with Anthony Chiang of Miami Herald, Jovic (with a V, not a K) opened up on his relationship with the three-time NBA MVP. While he called Jokic “my pretty good friend,” Jovic revealed that there was recently a point of disagreement between the two Serbian stars.

The cause: Last month, Jovic signed a four-year, $62.4 million contract to extend his stint with the Miami Heat. Apparently, Jokic wasn’t too pleased.

“He was mad because I signed the extension,” Jovic told Chiang. “He wanted me in Denver.”

It’s not just patriotic ties that would make someone like Jokic want the 24-year-old on his NBA squad. At 6-foot-10, Jovic is a matchup nightmare who offers both length and efficient shooting. Throughout his four seasons in the league, Jovic has shown improvement in terms of making high-IQ basketball plays. 

Which, of course, is something that his big brother figure is famous for. “Actually, I heard one fan yell, ‘You want to be Jokic,’” Jovic admitted.

Jovic is no Jokic, but the youngster is on a mission to play particularly well against the Joker’s team. “He always makes fun of me because we haven’t really won a game in the regular season against them for a long time,” Jovic said. “I can’t stand him talking too much [trash] anymore.”

As a matter of fact, since Jovic was selected 27th overall by the Heat in the 2022 NBA Draft, Miami has not defeated Denver in the regular season. The last time that the Heat defeated the Nuggets was in the 2019-20 campaign, two years before Jovic entered the NBA. Certainly, the memories of Denver’s 2023 NBA championship conquest at the expense of the Heat is also weighing on Jovic’s mind.

Though Jovic sounds hell-bent on helping his team finally overcome the Nuggets, he is delighted to have formed a brotherly bond with his fellow 2024 Olympian. “I’m happy I got to meet him, I’m happy I had the chance to play with him,” Jovic said. “He’s just so smart.”

In other words, Jovic and Jokic are really, really close. Perhaps the only thing that comes between them is a consonant. Or a contract extension.