Nikola Jokic, 29, who is currently chasing his second basketball championship in the NBA, is a passionate horse sports enthusiast.
Joel Sippola,
Inka Henelius
18:43•Updated 18:43
Nikola Jokic best known as an outstanding basketball player. The 29-year-old Serbian led the NBA team Denver Nuggets to the championship last summer.
However, Jokic, who was awarded as the best player in the playoffs, has a passion that takes up his time outside of the season. The superstar has loved horse sports since he was a child and he now owns several trotting horses.
One of Jokic’s own trotting horses was on the line on Sunday in the traditional Finlandia race in Vermo. The horse in question is Catullo Jet, ridden by an Italian Alessandro Gocciadoro.
– My wife owns it together with Jokic. The horse has had some difficulties in the past, but now it is doing better, Cocciadoro says.
– He (Jokic) and his family have had a passion for this sport. I have known him for three years and we are really good friends.
The 45th edition of the Finlandia Race brought top European riders to the Finnish audience again. Until the victory, Jokic’s horse and trainer Gocciadoro didn’t quite have enough food in this company: Catullo Jet finished second Magnus Djusen after directing Stoletheshow.
Equestrian in the summer
Jokic is currently chasing a second consecutive NBA championship for Denver. It was won in the opening round by a basketball legend LeBron James’s starred Los Angeles Lakers won the match 4–1. It will play in the second round against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In the summer, Jokic can be seen, for example, at his horse stable in Serbia or watching the games in Europe. Jokic is also in charge of the horses himself. According to the NBA, the Serbian can spend more time in horse sports in the summer than in dry training, for example in the weight room.
One of the best riding instructors in the US John Campbell says that he once spent time with Jokic at a major equestrian event in Sweden’s Elitseloppen. He drew attention to how Jokic was like an eager child.
– He was there warming up the horses. He gets excited when he gets to talk about horses. People are excited about them. You learn to love them, Campbell said.
According to Cocciadoro, Jokic is one hundred percent involved in Catullo Jet’s coaching.
– He is in contact with me every day and asks about the horses. However, it is lust. I am happy for him and I believe that the feeling is mutual, says the Italian Cocciadoro, who keeps stables in Italy and Sweden.
Rave in New York
Something about Jokic’s passion is told by the fact that when he returned to Serbia last summer after the NBA finals as a national hero, he went to watch an equestrian competition in his hometown of Sombor. The race featured racehorses owned by his family.
Last December, Jokic visited the Yonkers racetrack, which is intended for horse riding, during a game trip in New York.
Jokic also used his beloved hobby as a benchmark this spring after a four-game 1st-round loss against the Lakers.
– Of course we want to win. However, I have learned from equestrian competitions that it is not important how you start, but how you finish, Jokic expressed at the press conference.
Jokic has said that he wants to become a trotting coach after his basketball career.
Three liters of soda
Twice chosen as the NBA’s most valuable player, Jokic didn’t seem like a future superstar of the top league as a teenager. He played in the second team of a small club and did not have an important player agent.
Jokic’s lifestyle also did not resemble a top athlete. For example, he drank three liters of soda a day.
However, in the ranks of Mega Basket, he impressed many with his 50-point games. In the club, his training began to be monitored and his physique improved.