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DENVER, CO – FEBRUARY 21: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets and Tyler Zeller #44 of the Boston Celtics battle for rebounding position at Pepsi Center on February 21, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Doug Pensinger\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Nikola Jokic<\/a> is now considered one of the greatest players the league has ever seen, but just like any other NBA<\/a> player, he was once just a young rookie looking to get his feet wet in the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n In his interview with Basketball Sphere, Jokic revealed the three NBA players who helped him during the early part of his NBA career with the Denver Nuggets<\/a>.<\/p>\n Those three players are Wilson Chandler<\/a>, Jameer Nelson<\/a>, and Mike Miller.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt helps when you have someone to show you the ropes. When I arrived in the NBA, I had guys like Wilson Chandler and Jameer Nelson<\/a>,\u201d he said. \u201cI remember all of them\u2026 There was a whole group of them\u2014Mike Miller was there too, though he was a bit older by then.\u201d<\/p>\n Nikola Jokic: \u201cWhen I came to the NBA, I had Jameer Nelson and Wilson Chandler as role models when it came to training.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMike Miller was there too, although he was already a little older at the time. <\/p>\n Coming into the NBA with little expectations, Jokic began his career with the Nuggets in the 2015-2016 season after being drafted 41st overall in 2014.<\/p>\n Aside from Wilson, Nelson, and Miller, among Jokic\u2019s teammates are Danilo Gallinari<\/a> and Will Barton, Kenneth Faried, Emmanuel Mudiay<\/a>, Gary Harris, Randy Foye and Jusuf Nurkic.<\/p>\n Nuggets Veterans Gave Nikola Jokic Blueprint For NBA Career<\/p>\n \n Wilson Chandler, Mike Miller, and Jameer Nelson served as the veteran core for the Denver Nuggets during the mid-2010s as the franchise transitioned into the Nikola Jokic era.<\/p>\n Chandler was with the Nuggets from 2011 to 2018, while Nelson spent two years in Denver from 2015 to 2017. Miller also played for the Nuggets from 2015 to 2017.<\/p>\n Jokic said that his veterans gave him a blueprint on what it takes to be great in the NBA.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were in the gym every single day. Whether it was shooting drills, weight training, or something else. They had that mindset\u2014showing up and getting to work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI had really good role models to look up to, so if you need to, you just copy them\u2014you don\u2019t have to reinvent the wheel. You just copy what they do, and over the years, you\u2019ll develop your own routine, your own path\u2014whatever works best for you.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTo this day, I remember\u2014out of, say, 300 days, I\u2019d be in the gym for 295 of them. Hats off to them\u2014nothing but respect.\u201d<\/p>\n Jokic is already cemented as one of the greatest centers and passers in NBA history, boasting three MVP awards and a championship ring from 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nikola Jokic Gets Annoyed About His Popularity<\/p>\n \n Nikola Jokic also opened up about how popularity has affected him over the past year. In the same interview, he said that he sometimes gets annoyed by the popularity.<\/p>\n \u201cI miss it so much. I\u2019m getting more and more bothered by popularity,\u201d Jokic said. \u201cThis is going to sound corny, but, I\u2019m getting ruder to people who approach me. Honestly, it\u2019s tiring\u2026Some people around me know, I don\u2019t take pictures because it\u2019s my time. I\u2019ll sound rude again, but what can I do? If people can\u2019t understand me, I understand everything, but it\u2019s been 11-12 years and enough is enough. I feel better when someone tells me something, like you come to the zoo and take a picture of something.\u201d<\/p>\n Jokic has become the face of the Nuggets and is the centerpiece of the team over the last decade.\u00a0<\/p>\n His popularity will certainly keep growing because of his greatness.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nevertheless, Jokic has a shot at another NBA championship next season alongside Jamal Murray<\/a>, Aaron Gordon, and newly acquired former All-Star DeMar DeRozan<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n For now, he gets to spend time in his home country Serbia, before travelling to Denver for their training camp for the upcoming NBA season.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tRob Andrew Lo<\/a> Rob Andrew Lo is a writer at Heavy Sports and is covering the NBA. He has covered local, collegiate, professional and international sports in various sites. He was the sports editor of The Varsitarian, the official student publication of University of Santo Tomas, and a sports, entertainment, and lifestyle writer for Rappler.
![\"Denver](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/denver-nuggets-v-minnesota-timberwolves-game-six-minneapolis-minnesota-april.jpg\")
GettyMINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA \u2013 APRIL 30: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets speaks with referee Trevor Hanson #14 after a call during the first quarter of a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a> in Game Six of the First Round of the NBA Western Conference Playoffs at Target Center on April 30, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen\/Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n![\"BASKET-FRA-SRB-FRIENDLY\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/basket-fra-srb-friendly-serbias-15-nikola-jokic-handles-the-ball-during-people-sport-horizontal.jpg\")
GettySerbia\u2019s #15 Nikola Jokic handles the ball during a warm-up ahead of the friendly basketball match between France and Serbia, at the CO\u2019Met Arena in Orleans, north-central France on August 23, 2026. (Photo by LOU BENOIST \/ AFP via Getty Images)\n<\/p>\n
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\nA Journalism graduate from the University of Santo Tomas, he has built his voice across both collegiate and international platforms, previously contributing NBA coverage to Fansided and Sportskeeda.
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