Team Serbia center Nikola Jokic. Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Nikola Jokic reminds Team USA he's the best in the world

By Sai Mohan | Last updated Jul 31, 2024 8:01 AM ET

Remember when Nikola Jokic said the Nuggets needed a clone of him to overcome Minnesota's three-man big lineup of Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid in the playoffs?

The Serbians could have used a clone of the three-time MVP Sunday when they faced Team USA in the 2024 Paris Olympics opener. With Jokic on the floor, the Serbs were neck-and-neck with the Americans in the points department. With Jokic off the court, Serbia was outscored by a whopping 29-3 margin.

Serbia was on the even playing field with Nikola Jokic being on the court versus Team USA #Paris2024

WITH JOKIC | 81-81
WITHOUT JOKIC | 3-29 pic.twitter.com/eEagSs7T6L
— BasketNews (@BasketNews_com) July 28, 2024

Jokic finished with 20 points, five rebounds and eight assists in 30:45 of play as Serbia lost 110-84 to the mighty Americans. The Steve Kerr-led team capitalized on the 9:55 minutes he was off the floor.

Nikola Jokic sat for less than 10 minutes in Sunday's game against the U.S. men's national team.

Serbia was outscored by 26 with him on the bench pic.twitter.com/rxwAypJ5GY
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) July 28, 2024

All of Jokic's prominent teammates hurt the box score, with Bogdan Bogdanovic (minus-17) and Filip Petrusev (minus-13) unable to stop the bleeding when he went to the bench.

Jokic's performance was another reminder of why he's still the best basketball player in the world. A year after capturing his maiden NBA title, the seven-footer seemed prime for another deep postseason run until his Nuggets ran into the Timberwolves in the Western Conference semifinals. Jokic's Nuggets blew a 20-point lead in Game 7 to earn a dubious record for the largest blown lead in a Game 7 in playoffs history.

Despite that forgettable playoff choke job, the Nuggets still have the second-shortest odds to win the 2025 NBA title, largely due to Jokic's greatness. The Nuggets lost a key piece in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope during the free-agency period but replaced the veteran guard with former MVP Russell Westbrook.

Sai Mohan

A veteran sportswriter based in Portugal, Sai covers the NBA for Yardbarker and a few local news outlets. He had the honor of covering sporting events across four different continents as a newspaper reporter. Some of his all-time favorite athletes include Mike Tyson, Larry Bird, Luís Figo, Ayrton Senna and Steffi Graf.

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