We’re at a point where Nikola Jokic is probably one of the few athletes with an approval rating close to 100%, right? Is there anyone other than Joel Embiid fans and Sixers fans who doesn’t like Jokic? He doesn’t really say anything to the media so he doesn’t cause drama, his game is just beautiful to watch.
he’s won at the highest level and seems to be an incredible teammate overall, so it’s not too surprising that he spent a whopping $400,000 on Rolex watches for his teammates on the Serbian national team, for a man who seemed to be having the time of his life playing with his countrymen.
Imagine what it would be like to be Jokic’s teammate in that situation? Not only do you get to play with the best player in the world, who essentially put Serbia on his back en route to the bronze medal, but you get a $32,000 watch for your trouble. What a guy. And while $400,000 may seem like a huge sum, let me remind you that Jokic made $47 million last year from basketball alone and is expected to make $51 million this year. Something tells me he can afford it.
Of course, most will say it’s not about the money, it’s about the gesture, and in some ways I agree. This is no different than when we hear about the Super Bowl winning quarterback buying his offensive line something expensive, but there’s a reason we hear about it and the amount of money. When you hear the numbers, the gesture seems even bigger, and honestly, in some ways it reminds me of one of my favorite episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, “Anonymous Donor.”
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I’m sure this could have all happened without any press, but what’s the point of spending $400,000 on watches if you can’t tell anyone about it? You might as well listen to the praise the entire basketball world and the internet gives you for doing something like this, myself included.
The difference, of course, is that given what we know about Jokic, I think there’s 0.0% chance he cares about this coming out and how good it makes him look. In fact, I’d bet he would have preferred it not to come out at all. A guy who doesn’t actually want to draw attention to himself is not the type of guy who would do something like this just for the recognition. In a weird way, that almost makes me like it more? In my opinion, it feels more genuine. As you can see in the tweet, he suggests he bought 11 watches, which means he didn’t even buy one.
I think it’s really true that playing alongside Jokic can really change your life. From a basketball perspective, he’ll get you an Olympic medal, or in the NBA, he’ll make you money because the Jokic boost is very real (see: Bruce Brown, KCP, MPJ, and Jamal Murray). And on top of that, he’ll give you a watch worth tens of thousands of dollars just because he feels like it. Not a bad guy to have on your team if you ask me.
