The Boston Celtics put a bow on the NBA Finals with an 18-point win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 on Monday night, ending their 16-year championship drought and adding an 18th banner to their collection.
With their entire playoff rotation signed for at least one more year, many wonder if this will be the start of a dynasty run and an end to the NBA’s recent era of parity, where six different teams have won the last six titles. There are more than a few teams that hope to challenge Boston’s basketball supremacy next season, including the 2023 champs in Denver, who will feel like they let an opportunity slip away with their Game 7 collapse against Minnesota in the second round.
Denver has some work to do to round out the roster and get a bit more trusted playoff depth, but when you have the three-time MVP in Nikola Jokic on the roster, you’ll always have a puncher’s chance. As is the case every summer, Jokic is back in his hometown of Sombor, Serbia, where we get videos regularly on social media of him enjoying life at the race track or singing and dancing at a local bar.
What we don’t always see in the summer is Jokic putting in work on the court, as he is not the type of basketball player to post photos or videos of him “in the lab” during his offseason training. However, on Tuesday, video popped up on Twitter of Jokic getting some light reps on the court in the form of a 3-on-3 game at a park in Sombor with what appears to be a random group of guys playing pickup.
Jokic playing 3×3 in his hometown.
Video recorded by Dragan Toxi Filipović #3×3 #Sombor #Serbia #NBA pic.twitter.com/gzT0yznsE5— Nemanja (@dilimanac) June 18, 2024
Jokic is clearly not going full speed here, but I would never stop talking about it if I was the guy that got a bucket on Jokic here. I also have to shoutout Jokic’s teammate who refuses to play a two-man game with Jokic, dribbling straight past him and waving him off before launching a three that bricks. That’s what pickup ball is all about and I’m glad the over-confidence of random guys in the park doesn’t change even when you have literally the best basketball player in the world out there on your team.
