International competition is on the table for Nikola Jokic heading into offseason

Nikola Jokic was one of the best players in the 2024 Olympic Games, and said that he could possibly return to Team Serbia for the 2025 EuroBasket championships while the NBA offseason is going on

BY TRENT FINNEGAN

May 19, 2025, 11:25 AM Updated: May 22, 2025, 9:35 am

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The offseason is here for Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets after they came up short in Game 7 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Jokic had just 20 points on nine field goal attempts as the Nuggets were raced out of the Paycom Center in the second and third quarters by the top-seeded Thunder.

For Jokic, the three-time MVP, there’s not much he can do for Denver this offseason, which is arguably the most important one in franchise history. He doesn’t have a head coach or a general manager, he has two teammates making maximum contracts that look very bad after they both no-showed on Sunday, and his best young teammate is due for a contract extension that will pay him around $30 million annually.

First off, Jokic is worried about going to have some fun over the next couple of days to kick off his offseason. After that could be a possible reunion with the Serbian national team, a team that Jokic led to the bronze medal in the 2024 Olympics and went toe-to-toe against the United States superteam with.

The Olympics shortened the Joker’s offseason in 2024, but clearly didn’t affect his preparation heading into the 2024-25 NBA season.

“I think Olympics make me even better,” Jokic said. “Playing with a country, playing with different ‘rules’ but it’s not really different, playing with different players, I think it made me even better.”

Nikola Jokic believes the Olympics made him better and he may play for Serbia this summer in the European championships pic.twitter.com/Xp2yuFOtXG

— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) May 18, 2025

In six games in the Paris Olympic Games, Jokic averaged 18.8 points per game (sixth overall), 10.7 rebounds per game (first overall and the only player to average at least 10) and 8.7 assists per game (first overall). He then translated that performance to the NBA, and became the third player in league history to average a triple double over the course of an entire season. Even though it likely won’t end in the fourth MVP, this season was arguably Jokic’s best in the association.

This summer, Jokic could possibly play for Team Serbia once again, this time in the EuroBasket Championship. He’s only played for Serbia in international competition three times, with the other two being the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the 2019 FIBA World Cup.

“I need to decide, there is a EuroBasket, the European championship, I need to decide. I need to talk with the coaches and some of the main players … we will see,” Jokic said.

Serbia is one of 24 countries that qualified for the championships. Greece and Slovenia also qualified, but there is no word on whether or not Giannis Antetokounmpo or Luka Doncic will join their respective countries.

Team Serbia’s first game is on August 27, so Jokic has plenty of time to make a decision on his status for the tournament.