Mike Miller was a locker room veteran with the Denver Nuggets during his last two NBA seasons and got to witness Nikola Jokic’s generational talent from the start. Though Miller didn’t expect Jokic to be this good, he knew in Jokic’s very first season that the three-time MVP would be a sensation.
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The two-time champion could tell what Jokic was capable of as a rookie while also acknowledging his downfalls. The Serbian sensation was notably out of shape when he first joined the Nuggets — an issue he has amended in recent years. But at the time, Jokic’s conditioning issues were clearly holding him back.
Recalling a story he shared last week, Miller remembered referring to the 20-year-old big man as a “fat, ugly kid” before insisting that he was already Denver’s best player. Jokic spent much of his first year as the backup to Jusuf Nurkic, but Miller could still tell Jokic would reach superstardom because of how much better he made his teammates.
“You just see it. Everyone plays with a little more confidence, a little more swag. They’re always in their places,” the 45-year-old said on Podcast P with Paul George. “[Jokic] is making them better. He’s giving [them] their advantages. If you give an NBA player an advantage, he’s gonna win, right?”
While it may have been difficult for anyone to believe at the time, considering his physique, Jokic’s work ethic has actually been consistent from day one, according to Miller. “I will say this, though, fellas, for real. Like all that, ‘[Jokic] doesn’t really care about basketball’ … Talk about routines and habits,” he continued.
Practice makes perfect for Jokic and Kyrie Irving
“I always like [he was] the first one [at practice]. He was literally there every single day at the same time with the trainer Auggie in Denver, doing the same thing every single day,” the former Sixth Man of the Year said adamantly.
Miller added, “Like it’s not a secret. I’ve seen Kyrie in Cleveland and Joker in Denver. Like the crazy sh*t they do in the game, where it’s like, ‘Man, that’s crazy.’ Nah, he worked on that.”
Kyrie Irving, like Jokic, is known for pulling off some of the most creative and improbable sequences in basketball. Viewers are often caught off guard by their majestic moves on court. But both stars practice everything they pull in a game for hours on end. Miller believes that his willingness to always put in the work has separated Jokic from the pack.
“Joker, they talk about him. He is having the time of his life. He even said on the press conference gonna be a lot of beers for the next couple days. But he’s a grinder in the gym, man. That’s why I think he’s the best player in basketball,” Miller said confidently.
Nowadays, it’s easy for anyone to see that Nikola Jokic is a clear-cut superstar. But Mike Miller knew the seven-time All-Star would be a winning talent from the first moment he saw him play.
