“NBA Insider REVEALS SHOCKING Origin of Nikola Jokić’s ‘Joker’ Nickname!”
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The reason Nikola Jokic has been called ‘Joker’ was already clear. It was a lazy way to skip the NBA pronunciation guide. However, the origin was unclear until Mike Miller stepped up to claim the prize of creating one of the most iconic nicknames in league history.

In an appearance on Podcast P with Paul George, the former teammate of Jokic revealed that he was the first person to use ‘Joker’ about the Serbian superstar, then a promising rookie with the Denver Nuggets.

“I saw who he was. I’m not going to say, ‘he’s going to be this guy’. That would be ridiculous. But I knew he had All-Star and Hall-of-Fame type talent,” he recalled noticing the Sombor native during preseason practice and easily picking him out as the best player of the Nuggets, one season after the franchise drafted him with the 41st overall pick in 2014.

“It was me,” 45-year-old Miller responded to a question about the creation of the famous sobriquet, “I gave him the nickname Joker, because I couldn’t say ‘Jokić, pass the f…ing ball,’ so I said, ‘Joker, pass the ball,’, His personality and the way he plays, it’s like a Joker.”

“I should have trademarked it,” he added.

Between 2015 and 2017, Miller spent the last two years of his playing career with the Nuggets and Jokic, witnessing up close the first steps toward the current established reality of a player dominating the court with brilliant offense and defense, including making his teammates more dangerous.