Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/Getty Images)
Don’t bother asking Nikola Jokic how much he weighs down in the NBA bubble.
You’re just gonna have to guess how much Nikola Jokic weighs because he ain’t telling nobody.
Yeah, that’s the skinny when it comes to the All-Star center for the Denver Nuggets. The 7-foot big man from Serbia used to drink Coca-Cola like it was water in his youth. While his body has always been a point of conversation, his one-of-a-kind game on the hardwood is not. He’s arguably the best passing center since Arvydas Sabonis or Bill Walton.
Jokic has now entered the NBA’s bubble down in Orlando, as his Nuggets fight for what would be their first league championship since the NBA/ABA merger. He had contracted COVID-19 prior to arriving in Central Florida, but looks to have fully recovered, as he experienced very few symptoms in his battle with the coronavirus. He’s also lost weight in quarantine, but he can’t talk about it.
Per Mike Singer of the Denver Post, here is what Jokic had to say about his weight. “I think I’m not supposed to tell you my pounds and my weight. Team policy. … I like that.” Basketball Reference has him listed at 7-feet and 253 pounds. As we’ve seen before, those numbers lie. There’s no way Pablo Sandoval weighed 268 pounds when he arrived at San Francisco Giants camp last week.
Nikola Jokic is never going to tell you how much he weighs these days.
While it’s never polite to ask someone what they weigh, we grew up with manners in America methinks, Jokic is a professional athlete and how he takes care of his body is 100 percent part of his job. Though the Nuggets don’t need him to be the epitome of fitness glory, he can’t run out of gas looking out of shape in the Western Conference Semifinals or Finals. They need him to win.
Denver has meticulously built its team from the ground up. It’s been a slow and methodical ascension, but it’s one we can have great respect for. While the Nuggets aren’t a national brand, it’s hard to not be captivated by watching Jokic play. It’s like we’re getting to watch Sabonis star behind the Iron Curtain or Walton flourish had he not succumbed to all those debilitating injuries.
While Jokic is back in the bubble ready to play for the Nuggets, don’t ask him about his weight.