Denver’s Nikola Jokic and Miami’s Nikola Jovic are representing Serbia in the NBA Finals.

DENVER — There’s a member of the Heat who’s inspired by Nikola Jokic, idolizes Nikola Jokic, always wanted to meet Nikola Jokic and wishes the best for Nikola Jokic, although maybe the NBA Finals isn’t the right time for a Heat player to wave the flag for Nikola Jokic.

Or maybe it is. Because even during the course of the most heightened and high-stakes series on the NBA schedule, loyalty and territorial ties sometimes run deep even amongst players on opposite benches, which explains the unique situation regarding a pair of Serbian countrymen.

It can be confusing, much like their resumes and especially their names themselves — Nikola Jokic is a two-time Kia MVP and centerpiece for the Nuggets, while Nikola Jovic is a rarely-used teenage rookie for the Heat who probably won’t break much of a sweat in this championship series.

Interestingly, Jokic and Jovic met for the first time this year.

A brief history lesson about Serbia: Soon after the civil war involving the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s created a bitter breakup and splintered the country into pieces, Serbia became a basketball incubator. The success of Hall of Famer Vlade Divac and former All-Star Peja Stojakovic created an awareness and suddenly basketball courts were built next to soccer fields. The basketball culture expanded even more once Serbian kids were exposed to Michael Jordan and then Kobe Bryant. A country of six million can only generate so much top-level talent but, for its size, Serbia has done well with its resources.

Hopefully, I can get to know him better and he can teach me everything he knows.”

– Nikola Jovic on Nikola Jokic

The best player Serbia ever produced? Well, when he left the country for the NBA in 2014, he was overweight, slow-footed, spoke in broken English and was totally ignored in the first round of the NBA Draft.

But of course, Jokic only became the greatest Draft pick in NBA history, as well as one of the game’s legendary big men before turning 30, transformed the center position with his precise passing and low-post fundamentals and elevated the Nuggets to contender status. Now here he is, three wins away from his first championship.

What’s really strange is Jokic, who’s obviously the most famous athlete in Serbia along with tennis great Novak Djokovic, isn’t well-watched. Like most overseas countries, NBA games aren’t easily reached, and when those games tip, it’s very early in the morning in Serbia, around 3 a.m. That explains why Jovic, who’s nine years younger, never really eyeballed Jokic while growing up and developing his own game.

“You’re not able to see that much of him,” Jovic said. “In Serbia, we don’t have cable where they show every game. It’s not easy to see him all the time. And so therefore it’s not like we’re that close, him and me.

“I really don’t know him that good. I just got started in the NBA. I can see him as a big brother because of how he is, though. Hopefully, I can get to know him better and he can teach me everything he knows.”

Jovic did follow Jokic’s footsteps in this regard: He went through the same youth pipeline and then played professionally for Serbian club team Mega Basket. And Jovic arguably had a better start in basketball than his hero. Jovic showed all-around skills as a 6-foot-10 power forward, averaging 29 points (on 66% shooting) and 10 rebounds in a tournament for Serbian youths. He quickly became not only the best his country had to offer, but one of the best international prospects anywhere at age 18, when he signed to play professionally in Serbia.

In an NBA.com survey of general managers for the 2021-22 season, Jovic received several votes for best international player not playing in the NBA.

The evidence of that came in the 2022 NBA Draft, where Jovic was taken late in the first round, 14 spots ahead of Jokic eight years earlier.

Not only did word travel fast among NBA teams about Jovic, the message traveled to Denver and made one player very curious.

“He was playing in the same team that I played back in Serbia,” Jokić said. “One of his coaches was my godfather who worked there. He told me, I think a year before, he’s going to get drafted and that he’s actually a really good player, really good person, that he’s really working hard, can have talent to be an NBA player.”

Jovic had a pre-draft workout with the Nuggets, but they took Christian Braun six spots earlier because of their need for backcourt help. Miami was happy he was there at 27. Jovic hasn’t seen much playing time this season — just 15 games with averages of 5.5 points and 2.1 rebounds — but the Heat player development system has a stellar track record for preparing young players.

The highlight of his season? That happened four months ago when he finally met Jokic.

The Nuggets had a February stop in Miami, along with an off day, so Jokic reached out, and a large dinner including family members and fellow Serbians took place, followed by a brief one-on-one conversation among the only NBA players at the table.

“He gave me a lot of advice and I took it to heart,” Jovic said. “Told me how this league goes, how I should get my work in. It was really wonderful. I love his game, love him as a person. I like how he carries himself, very humble and very thankful.

“He’s not big on social media. He’s big on his team and his family and friends. He’s also a big presence for young guys from our country, like me, who play basketball. We all like how he represents us. We’re proud of him. You have to understand, for us, he means a lot. We’re kind of a small country. You know how many American players there are in the NBA, and how many Serbians? Not as many. So we don’t have many to look up to. But I’m happy that he and I can represent Serbia.”

In Game 1, with the outcome comfortably in the Nuggets’ favor in the last minute of the game, an unexpected scene occurred: two Serbs on the court at the same time during the Finals.

The day before, Jovic dreamt of that happening, and added: “I would remember it until the next time we’re in a game together, when I get better as a player. And I think that would be very soon.”

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Shaun Powell has covered the NBA for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

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