Nikola Jović

Serbian basketball player (born 2003) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nikola Jović

Nikola Jović (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Јовић, pronounced [nǐkola jǒːʋitɕ]; born 9 June 2003) is a Serbian professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was selected 27th overall by the Heat in the 2022 NBA draft.

Quick Facts No. 5 – Miami Heat, Position ...
Nikola Jović
Jović in 2024
No. 5 Miami Heat
PositionPower forward
LeagueNBA
Personal information
Born (2003-06-09) 9 June 2003 (age 21)
Leicester, England
NationalitySerbian
Listed height6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
NBA draft2022: 1st round, 27th overall pick
Selected by the Miami Heat
Playing career2021–present
Career history
2021–2022Mega Basket
2022–presentMiami Heat
20222023Sioux Falls Skyforce
Career highlights and awards
Stats at NBA.com 
Stats at Basketball Reference 
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  Serbia
Olympic Games
2024 ParisTeam
FIBA World Cup
2023 Philippines–Japan–Indonesia
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Early career

Jović was born in the Royal Infirmary in Leicester, Leicestershire, England due to his professional basketball player father Ilija playing there at the time.[1] He grew up playing water polo for VK Partizan as well as basketball.[2][3] Jović was playing basketball for the KK Sava youth system before he joined the Mega Basket youth system in 2018.[4][5] At the 2021–22 Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament in the Serbian capital Belgrade,[6] he averaged 29.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.8 blocks in 28 minutes per game, while shooting 66% from the field and 17% from three and won the MVP award.[2]

Professional career

Summarize
Perspective

Mega Basket (2021–2022)

Jović made his senior debut for Mega Basket in February 2021 at the Radivoj Korać Cup tournament in Novi Sad. On 19 March, Jović made his ABA League debut in a 74–65 loss to Split recording 10 points and 9 rebounds in 21 minutes of playing time.[7] On 10 June 2021, one day after his 18th birthday he signed his first professional contract with Mega.[8][9]

In the NBA.com GM Survey for the 2021–22 NBA season, Jović received votes for the best international player not playing in the NBA.[10] In April 2022, he was named the ABA League Top Prospect for the 2021–22 season.[11][12] During the 2021–22 season, Jović averaged 11.7 points while shooting 42.8 percent from the field, 35.6 percent on threes and 75.4 percent from the free throw, 4.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists to 2.7 turnovers and 0.4 blocks per game in 25 appearances.[13]

Miami Heat / Sioux Falls Skyforce (2022–present)

In April 2022, Jović declared for the 2022 NBA draft.[14][15] On 23 June 2022, Jović attended the 2022 NBA draft held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.[16][17] He was selected with the 27th overall pick by the Miami Heat in the Draft.[18][13][19] Jović officially signed a multi-year rookie scale contract with the Heat on 2 July 2022.[20] In July 2022, he joined the Heat for the NBA Summer League.[21]

On 23 October 2022, Jović was suspended for one game without pay for leaving the bench during an altercation between the Heat and the Toronto Raptors the night before.[22] He was assigned to the NBA G League on 30 December 2022.[23] Jović made the 2023 NBA Finals but the Heat lost the series in 5 games to the Denver Nuggets.

On February 13, 2024, Jović scored a career-high 24 points, with 7 rebounds, in a 123–97 win against the Milwaukee Bucks.[24]

National team career

Jović missed the 2019 FIBA U16 European Championship in Udine, Italy due to a right arm injury.[2]

In July 2021, Jović was a member of the Serbia U19 national team at the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 18.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game.[25] He was named to the all-tournament team.[26]

In February 2022, Jović made his debut for the Serbia national team at the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, at the age of 18.[27] Initially at the preliminary Serbia roster for EuroBasket 2022, Jović was cut from the squad due to disapproval of the Heat.[28][29]

In August 2023, Jović played for the Serbia national team at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. He averaged 10.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists over eight games helping Serbia win the silver medal. He won the bronze medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics with Serbia.[30]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Adriatic League

Regular season

More information Year, Team ...
Year Team GP MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG PIR
2020–21 Mega Basket 4 24.7 .550 .400 .750 5.5 1.0 0.2 0.5 11.8 15.8
2021–22 25 27.8 .430 .360 .750 4.4 3.4 0.6 0.4 11.7 12.7
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NBA

Regular season

More information Year, Team ...
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2022–23 Miami 15813.6.406.229.9472.1.7.5.15.5
2023–24 Miami 463819.5.452.399.7024.22.0.5.37.7
Career 614618.0.443.369.7733.71.6.5.37.1
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Play-in

More information Year, Team ...
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2024 Miami 2220.5.500.4005.51.0.0.55.0
Career 2220.5.500.4005.51.0.0.55.0
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Playoffs

More information Year, Team ...
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2023 Miami 701.8.250.000.7.0.0.0.3
2024 Miami 5525.7.444.409.8576.62.21.0.69.4
Career 12511.7.425.375.8573.2.9.4.34.1
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See also

References

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