It is hard to talk about Serbian basketball without bringing up Nikola Jokic, the man who has gone on to become a three-time NBA MVP and the centerpiece of the Denver Nuggets. By now, his role with the national team is also well documented, with highlights such as winning silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics and bronze at the 2024 Paris Games. But in 2017, Serbia entered EuroBasket without him, and the situation raised questions right away.

That summer, the spotlight was on Serbia’s roster decisions and their chances without their brightest star. They had already been hit by the absence of captain Milos Teodosic, and names like Nemanja Bjelica, Nikola Milutinov, and Miroslav Raduljica were also missing. Jokic, who had just finished his second NBA season, was unavailable too. And this made peop

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