Denver trainer Steve Hess talks about 텍사스홀덤 Jokic and Coke.
Nikola Jokic (211 cm, C) entered the NBA with the 41st overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. As his draft position suggests, he wasn’t a player who received a lot of hype and attention. Jokic didn’t make his debut until the 2015-2016 season. In his rookie season, he averaged 10 points, 7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists.
In his second season, he earned a starting spot, averaging 16.7 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 4.9 assists, and he has improved every season since.
In 2020-2021, he averaged 26.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, and 8.3 assists, winning his first regular-season MVP award, and continued his stellar play in 2021-2022, winning the “back-to-back” MVP award.
Jokic averaged 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, and 9.8 assists in the 2022-2023 season, but was edged out by Joel Embiid (213 cm, C) for a third consecutive regular season MVP award. However, he averaged 30 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 9.5 assists in the playoffs to lead the team to its first championship in franchise history. The Finals MVP award went to Jokic, unsurprisingly.
Aside from his skills, Jokic has struggled with weight controversy in the past. “I used to drink two to three liters of Coke,” he told ESPN. When I came to the U.S., I tried to stop drinking Coke, and it wasn’t easy. Training with my teammates was really hard and I wanted to go home,” he recalled.
But over time, Jokic managed to condition himself. He even won the MVP award. “It was really hard for him to quit drinking Coke,” says Denver trainer Steve Hess, “but the sugar in it gave him energy. So I allowed him to drink it at first. For him, it was a source of energy.”
“But as time went on, I realized that this was wrong (laughs), because Yokichi was failing to control his weight. Yokichi knew this, and he quickly stopped drinking Coke. His willpower is really great,” he says, explaining how he got off Coke.
Meanwhile, the championship-winning Jokic missed the last Basketball World Cup. He wanted to make sure he got enough rest. It will be interesting to see what kind of shape he’ll be in when he returns to the team.
