By admin 
It’s easy to look at Nikola Jokic’s career today and dub him one of the greatest players ever to set foot on the basketball court. It all looks so effortless when he is the one doing it. His touch around the rim, footwork, elite passing and practically every move he does with the rock in his hands is poetry in motion.
But it wasn’t always this way. Behind the accolades are countless hours spent in the gym behind closed doors when he was just a kid with a dream of one day becoming an NBA player. On his way to the top, as he admits, his parents were the ones who played a crucial role when they decided to sacrifice everything they had just to make his dreams possible.
“We had those late basketball practices ending at 10 or 11 PM, and my parents were waiting for me, ready. Their time, their sacrifices, their money in moments when we couldn’t even afford shoes or rides, or anything else,” Jokic
“Even when I moved to Vojvodina, mom and dad would come stay for a few days just to help me out.”
“They dedicated all their free time to helping me, less with basketball itself, but with life, especially since I left home at 17 as a spoiled third child,” he added.
“To this day, I love when they visit, and I still go see them every day I can. Mom still comes over just to make me porridge. Now I finally see everything they did for me, things that I will hopefully do for my own kids, God willing.”
Jokic stayed true to himself to this day
If his words are to be believed, he was always mama’s boy. It was hard for him whenever he had to leave his hometown. He was simply accustomed to having his parents by his side no matter what, and, as we can see, all the accolades and millions in his bank accounts haven’t changed him one bit.
It’s been 11 seasons since he logged his first NBA minutes, and even today, he feels homesick whenever the NBA season is about to start, and he has to leave Serbia. However, he found a way to have someone around him, although he is now a married man with two little kids jumping around the house.
Read more Dana White shares admiration for ‘stone-cold killer’ Jon Jones
His brothers, Nemanja and Strahinja, live with him in Denver for most of the year so he can have family support during a grueling 82-game season and, in a way, replace their parents’ support when things aren’t going his way.
Jokic is on track to become one of the wealthiest NBA players in history
Nikola is well aware of how much his family had to sacrifice just to fulfill his dreams, and that is something he’ll always carry with him, no matter how different his life is from his early days.
Today, he is fortunate enough to say his parents don’t have to work another day for the rest of their lives. Next summer, the three-time MVP will become eligible for a $359.5 million supermax contract extension, the biggest contract in NBA history, which means his career earnings will surpass the $700 million mark, making him the highest-earning basketball player ever.
Starting from a small town in Sombor, Serbia, where two devoted parents sacrificed everything in a leap of faith, to one of the greatest and wealthiest players in the history of sports.
Just let that sink in.
Related: Nikola Jokic detailed the challenge of raising grounded children amid historic $700 million career earnings
Read more WWE Rookie Meghan Walker Causes Fan Frenzy In Red Swimsuit
Copyright 2026 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This story was originally published September 11, 2026 at 11:05 AM.