Nikola Jokic leads loaded Serbia roster into EuroBasket

Serbia is bringing its best to EuroBasket, and that means Nikola Jokic is back in national team colors.

The three-time NBA MVP and 2023 Finals MVP headlines Serbia’s 12-man roster, officially announced by FIBA. He’ll be joined by three other active NBA players: Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, Heat forward Nikola Jovic and Wizards big man Tristan Vukcevic.

The rest of the group is filled with familiar European names, many with NBA ties: Aleksa Avramovic, Ognjen Dobric, Marko Guduric, Stefan Jovic, Vanja Marinkovic, Vasilije Micic, Nikola Milutinov and Filip Petrusev.

Notably absent are Thunder rookie Nikola Topic and former Warriors forward Alen Smailagic, both of whom were on the preliminary roster but didn’t make the final cut.

Serbia enters the tournament as the favorite, per FIBA, after rolling through its exhibition slate with a 7-0 record. Wins came over Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Greece, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany and Slovenia.

The track record is there too. Serbia won bronze at the 2024 Olympics and silver at the 2023 World Cup, though Jokic sat out that summer after Denver’s championship run. The sting still lingers from EuroBasket 2022, when Italy knocked Serbia out in the round of 16. Spain went on to win that tournament.

This time, with Jokic in uniform and momentum behind them, Serbia looks like the team to beat.