After seemingly having the time of his life back home in Serbia during the offseason, Nikola Jokic was back with the Denver Nuggets on media day recently. Jokic was seen partying, rafting, and watching racehorses during his vacation, and had apparently forsaken basketball during the four months of summer hiatus. When asked whether he had touched a basketball since the conclusion of last season, the Joker had a nonchalant response, claiming that he touched a basketball only a couple of times during the summer break. Boston Celtics legend Kevin Garnett seemingly found the response hilarious and decided to give a shoutout on his Instagram.
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Jokic understandably used the offseason to get back to his roots. The 2023 NBA Champion was not seen training or playing ball in the number of videos that have surfaced this summer from his holiday in Serbia. Garnett found the Joker’s antics utterly hilarious, and claimed that it was typical “Champ sh*t.” The video of Jokic’s comments was initially posted on Instagram by Bleacher Report.
Kevin Garnett reacts to Nikola Jokic claiming to have touched the basketball a “couple times” during the offseason
Jokic’s monster campaign last season resulted in his first-ever championship. The two-time MVP had an brilliant season and just lost out on his 3rd straight MVP narrowly to Joel Embiid.
Despite the work he usually puts in during training, Jokic had a long vacation back home during the offseason. He made the most of his time in Serbia and was asked recently by a reporter whether he had picked up the basketball even once during his time off. In response, Jokic claimed that he had touched the ball only a couple of times:
“A couple of times, not much.”
The nonchalant response led to an even more hilarious interjection from Jamal Murray. Murray said, “No, he didn’t” and burst out into laughter. The members of the media followed suit. Kevin Garnett joined in on the action later on, sharing the clip on Instagram.
He was clearly amused with the comment and claimed that Jokic’s response was “champ shyt.” The comment was followed by the ‘laughing’ and ‘100’ emojis. Of course, it goes without saying that no one will be any less scared of the Serbian international once the season officially begins despite him not touching a basketball in two months.
KG has been impressed with Jokic’s demeanor since winning the Championship
Jokic was quite casual and unfazed about being out of touch with the game. His natural skills guarantee that he will be back to his best within a few days of training.
Regardless, this is not the first time that Garnett has expressed his delight over the way Jokic and the Nuggets have handled a situation. The 76ers recently held a training camp in Fort Collins but had to take permission from the Nuggets and Jokic in order to train.
This was due to the NBA’s rules about teams holding training camps near a proximity to another team’s base. Fort Collins’ proximity to Denver meant that the camp would not have been a possibility without the Joker and the Nuggets’ blessing.
This amused KG quite a bit as he compared the Denver Nuggets superstar to Suge Knight.
