Nikola Jokic dismisses careless narrative, says he’ll play for long time

In a terrific bite-sized interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews, Nikola Jokic, who turned 31 on Thursday, opened up about the length of his career, how he dealt with his injury and the narratives that surround him.

Nikola Jokic cares. He cares a lot. And if you needed the three-time MVP to explicitly say it for you to believe it, then frankly, you haven’t been watching. Most of us here in Denver already knew, but the big fella cleared the air in a sit-down.

In the illuminating conversation with Malika Andrews, the Nuggets’ franchise cornerstone delivered strong pushback to anyone still peddling the lazy “Jokic doesn’t care” narrative that’s inexplicably followed him for most of his career.

“I care a lot,” Jokic told Andrews. “I think if you don’t care for winning, you’re not supposed to be in this sport.”

Obviously, a guy who works as hard as Jokic does cares — no matter what else brings him joy. Yet the timing of this interview feels notable. Both within the context of this season and what surrounds it and his career.

We’re fresh off an All-Star Weekend where Kevin Durant publicly called out Jokic and Luka Doncic for not bringing enough intensity to the exhibition format. And Jokic is now on the back half of his career, with a Nuggets team that may have its best hope for a second title right now with the future a bit unknown.

The Serbian big man had every ability to just brush off the noise as he’s done countless times before. But Joker didn’t, he went right after it, which is something he’s done just a handful of times in his career.

“Just my personality may be a little bit different, or I accept victory and success in different ways,” Jokic explained. “I think I care about basketball, and I love to play basketball. I enjoy it. I enjoy competing. I just accept the success and defeat differently.”

I’ve long said that it’s hard to judge Jokic from an American perspective. He is foreign in every way on top of being a different person. It leads to some confusing his demeanor with his dedication. He doesn’t want to play into the NBA hype circle or smack talk his opponents. He doesn’t need to. His play always speaks for itself, as it has this year.

Despite missing 16 games with the most significant injury of his career, Jokic is averaging 28.7 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 10.7 assists per game. It’s not just another season where he’s averaging a triple-double. He’s leading the league in assists, rebounds and is seventh in scoring all while he shots 59% from the field and 42% from deep.

And some think he would rather be racing horses. Andrews actually pressed Jokic on his other love.

“If you had to pick just one, the horse racing championship or an NBA championship?” she asked.

Jokic answered, “NBA championship, right now.”

Jokic did a lot of reflecting in the four minutes that were posted, including about his knee.

“It was actually really interesting because I’ve never been injured before and it was a completely new moment in my career,” Jokic said. “I’m so used to playing, so used to being on the floor that I felt like I’m missing out.”

Jokic spent many of those games pacing in huddles and barking instructions at his teammates. And that missing out, well maybe it’s made him think about how long he’s going to play for.

“To be honest, I think I’m going to play basketball until I can play on a high level,” Jokic said. “Because I enjoy it and I love to play. I’m going to play until I can perform on a high level and still enjoy it and still be healthy.”

Andrews framed the question by pointing to LeBron James, Steph Curry, and Kevin Durant — stars in their late 30s and early 40s still competing at elite levels. Jokic turned 31 today. If he follows that model, Denver could have the better part of a  decade more of Jokic.

The Nuggets start the second half of their season on Thursday in Los Angeles against the Clippers. Denver sits at 35-20, good for third in the West. The Nuggets have the second-best odds to win it all this year, according to Vegas, with the big question being can they break through against the reigning champion and favorites OKC.

What you can’t question is if Jokic cares or wants to be here or play in the NBA — or any of that nonsense.

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