Anyone that has followed the NBA over the past few seasons is well aware that the Denver Nuggets’ all-star center Nikola Jokić is truly coming into his own. His primary focus may be on the court, but when you watch the dynamic big man discuss his trotter, it's obvious that a good portion of his heart will always be at the track.
The Standardbred Canada website profiled Jokić once before – in the fall of 2017, to be exact – after a piece by The Players’ Tribune had informed the international racing world that Jokić, who has blossomed into an NBA force, has a deep love for trotting.
“I always loved basketball, but when I was little — even when I was 13 and 14 — I was going to horse race,” Jokić said during the 2017 interview. “I didn’t even practice basketball that much. I went to the stables, just to be the stable boy. That was my life. I raced. Not professionally, but amateur. I even placed fourth one time. It was a nice hobby.”
Nikola Jokić, pictured driving a horse at his local raceway during his younger years
Jokić, now 24, has come a long way since his days of mucking stalls in his native Serbia. He has emerged as one of the unique talents in the new NBA. The big man’s court vision and passing prowess from the high post makes him a nightmare for opposing coaches to gameplan against (Toronto Raptors fans surely won't forget this). He’s averaging 20.2 points per contest this season and is shooting 50.6% from the field (while hitting at a rate of 32% from deep). Jokić is averaging seven assists per game and almost 11 rebounds (almost three on the offensive glass) per contest. He’s a legitimate triple-double threat every time he suits up and should be in consideration when MVP voting is ultimately conducted.
The world knows that Jokić has a special skill set on the hardwood. The center’s talents in the trotting world are clearly lesser known, but a certain individual, Denver Nuggets Head Coach Michael Malone, has had the opportunity to see ‘The Joker’ amongst his racing peers, and the experience impressed him.
BSN Denver recently reported the story of how Malone travelled to Serbia last summer to spend some time with Jokić. The trip, which wasn’t Malone’s first journey to Sombor to spend time with the big man, did hold a surprise for the coach. Before Malone knew it, he was up in the sulky behind a trotter by the name of Dream Catcher. The coach was out of his element.
Dream Catcher was calm that day, according to Jokić’s account. Although the hoops’ star doesn’t let many individuals steer his horse, he opted to allow Malone to take the charge for a jog. Dream Catcher had other ideas.
The BSN Denver item states that Malone was instructed to take Dream Catcher on a light jog around the track, but the horse quickly picked up speed. Denver’s coach didn’t hear the calls from Jokić or Dream Catcher’s trainer to put on the breaks.
“It was just supposed to be a jog, but he was pretending it was a race,” Jokić recalled. “I was yelling ‘Coach! Slow down!’ He didn’t listen. He still needs to pay me money for that.”
The video which appears below aired in 2017, prior to the BSN Denver piece.
Although the journey with Dream Catcher may have thrown Malone a bit out of his comfort zone, it was the experience – taking a walk into Jokić’s world, so to speak – that the coach says is paramount in building and maintaining a positive working relationship.
“It’s not always about basketball…” Malone said. “I have to coach him. I have to be hard on him. I have to hold him accountable. I have to love him. I have to build him up. All those things go into being a coach. But I also have to get to know Nikola and let him know that I genuinely care about him and his family way before I care about Nikola as a player.”
Michael Malone, pictured with his arm around Nikola Jokić at the racetrack in Sombor in 2017
Many would presume that Jokić’s trotting life is far removed from his life on the hard court. At the end of the day, it is, without a doubt. That being said, Jokić makes sure he keeps a few mementos close by to remind him of his love for the humble oval in his hometown.
According to BSN Denver, Jokić’s locker displays the ribbon that Dream Catcher earned for winning his first race in 2017 – a race in which Malone was also in attendance for. The locker also showcases a selfie of Jokić with another of his trotters, Bella Marguerite. The stall also displays a quote – one which still gets quite a bit of play in the equine world: ‘There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man’ (Winston Churchill).
The piece goes on to explain that Jokić is hoping to fix up the Sombor track one day. The star baller is well aware that the facility is a grassroots raceway. Lovingly, Jokić explained that the track is “really low level,” and that if he upgrades some aspects of it, he doesn’t want it to lose its essence. Sounds like a true horseman.
Trotters racing at the Sombor racetrack
(With files from BSN Denver)