"I Don't Take Pictures Because It's My Time" - Nikola Jokic Begging Fans To Leave Him Alone In Public Is Extremely On Brand

David Berding. Getty Images.

Over the years, it's become a bit of a running gimmick how Nikola Jokic "doesn't care" about basketball and really only cares about spending time with his horses in Serbia. Personally, I'm of the belief that you don't become one of the best players in the world with the resume Jokic has 

by not giving a shit about your craft. Instead, what I've always felt Jokic doesn't care for is all the bullshit that comes with the NBA. The drama, the attention, all that other shit. While some players actively seek the limelight and headlines, Jokic just goes out there and dominates while mostly keeping to himself. I think too often people take that approach as him not caring about basketball as a whole, and that couldn't be further from the truth

But the part about having zero interest with any of the bullshit that comes with being an NBA superstar? That's very real. 

“I'm getting more and more bothered by popularity. This is going to sound corny, but, I'm getting ruder to people who approach me. Honestly, it's tiring…Some people around me know, I don't take pictures because it's my time. I'll sound rude again, but what can I do? If people can't understand me, I understand everything, but it's been 11-12 years and enough is enough.”

Here's the thing. On one hand, I completely understand this from Jokic's side. It's probably annoying as hell when you may be out and about just trying to enjoy your day, maybe you're with your family or something, and you can't go a minute without some random person coming up to you asking for a picture/autograph/etc. I imagine that gets old pretty quickly. Does that mean you should be an asshole to some random kid who may come up and ask for a picture? Probably not, but then again how many stories do we hear about how adults send their kid out to get an autograph or whatever just so they can then sell it? That's also pretty lame. 

Advertisement

On the other hand, that sort of thing comes with the territory of being an NBA superstar. Unfortunately, you're going to have fans and attention when you're out and about. I'm sure Jokic doesn't mind the $304M in basketball money he's made in his career, and I'm sure he also won't have an issue with his pending $359M extension (largest in NBA history) coming next summer, and guess who helps make that possible? Fans. As adults, we all have to do shit we don't like from time to time. Now if someone is being disrespectful or coming up to you at a restaurant while you're eating with your family? That's fucked. I feel like you can be an asshole to that person. I do think sometimes people can forget that professional athletes are actual people too, and just because you're a fan of a team or player doesn't mean they are indebted to you at all times. You aren't entitled to shit just because you're a fan, and it's perfectly OK to be normal and just let people be. 

Also, if you're a Nuggets and Jokic fan, you should probably know this is how he feels right? He hasn't exactly been shy about this sort of thing

so I feel like you should know what you're getting into if you happen to see Jokic out in the wild.

So why do I care about this? Well, because until Jokic signs on that dotted line next summer, he may be up for grabs. Especially if the Nuggets have another underachieving season. So if that really is the case, as a potential Jokic suitor in the Summer of 2027, I'm going to need the entire city of Boston to read these quotes and take them to heart. If we get to next summer and you're walking around Boston and you see Jokic at a restaurant? No, you didn't. We must collectively pretend like he doesn't exist once the final buzzer hits 0.0. No pictures, no autographs, no nothing. If we live in an alternate universe where Brad lands his white whale? Same thing. We all need to do our best to ignore him outside of the arena, because if not, who knows he may just say fuck it and retire out of nowhere. 

Obviously, that might be tough for a market like Boston, and for a guy who doesn't really love attention I'd say that's definitely a strike against the Celts as a potential suitor. That's why we all need to agree to leave him the hell alone. The sacrifice is worth it if it means we get to live in a world where Nikola Jokic and Jayson Tatum are teammates. Just typing that out made it move a little bit, I can't lie.

The one thing I think we can all agree on is that as soon as Jokic retires, we're never going to see him again. You know how that sort of happened with Tim Duncan before he started to resurface here and there recently? Same thing is going to happen with Jokic, only he probably won't ever resurface. Maybe for his HOF Induction, but that's about it.