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How well-prepared is Jokic for the upcoming NBA season?

Serbian basketball player Nikola Jokic proved himself as the best player in the NBA playoffs, leading the Denver Nuggets with impressive performances.

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) gestures to the bench in the second quarter against the Chicago Bulls at Ball Arena.
Isaiah J. DowningUSA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con

Nikola Jokić, a Serbian center, led the Denver Nuggets to their first championship title in history with some incredible team and individual basketball performances. After the playoffs, Jokić returned to Serbia and skipped the World Championship in Manila as he felt physically and mentally unprepared for it.

Being the most valuable player in the NBA Finals last summer, the American media paid a lot of attention to Jokić's summer activities, such as rafting, attending concerts, going to horse races, and spending time with his friend and teammate Aaron Gordon in his hometown, Sombor.

Now, Jokić is back in Colorado with Michael Malone’s team and preparing for the upcoming season. The team is focused on defending their league title.

American journalist Harrison Wind closely follows the career of Jokić and has noticed a change in his approach to the new season compared to last October. Jokić is now more aggressive in the preseason and is looking for his shots more often than in the previous season when he mainly played his teammates. This change in Jokić's playing style is due to his mental fortitude, which has elevated his game to new heights. In the first three preparatory games of 2022, Jokić shot the ball eight times and took 21 shots in the first two games of the year. He is working hard to get the team moving, and his aggressive playing indicates what’s to come in the upcoming season. According to Harrison Wind, preparations are underway for another MVP season.

The Nuggets have two more preseason games against the Los Angeles Clippers in California before the start of the season. On October 25, they will open the regular season early in the morning at Central European time in their hall, where they will welcome their rivals from the previous finals of the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers.