For the second consecutive summer, 21-year-old Heat forward Nikola Jovic is competing for Serbia on the international stage, this time for the 2024 Paris Olympics alongside Nikola Jokic–arguably the best player on the planet–and Bogdan Bogdanovic.
Earlier this summer, however, Jovic suffered a serious ankle injury in an offseason workout that was reported by a Serbia publication as a “fracture of the ankle joint” that would’ve likely caused him to miss the Olympics. Though the injury was misreported, as Jovic recovered in-time to suit up for Serbia’s final exhibition against Greece.
He opened up to Associated Press’ Tim Reynolds regarding his status Wednesday, offering an encouraging injury update two months away from training camp.
“I’m doing great,” Jovic said, according to Reynolds. “I haven’t done a lot, but I really wanted to be with the team and [Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra] and everyone from the front office was good with it. The imaging was great. My foot looked great. Maybe I’m not in the best shape right now, but when you step on the court, the adrenaline and everything brings the best out of me. I’ll do whatever I can to help this team win and I’ll for sure be ready for this season.”
I caught up with Nikola Jovic postgame tonight here at the Olympics … some answers that may interest Heat fans: on his health, playing with Jokic and facing the U.S. … pic.twitter.com/qp16S6zvdm
— Tim Reynolds (@ByTimReynolds) July 31, 2024
Through two games, Jovic has averaged 7.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists on 38.5 percent shooting (5-13) and is only shooting just 2-of-8 from beyond the arc. He most recently totaled 10 points, three boards and two assists on 4-of-7 shooting in 18 minutes in Serbia’s 41-point win over Puerto Rico in Group Stage.
It’s good to see Jovic in good spirits regarding the injury. Serbia has one more Group Stage game against South Sudan at 3:00 p.m. EST on Saturday with a chance to advance to the knockout stage.
Training camp is expected to open up on Oct. 1. Experience at the world’s biggest stage is never a bad thing. Jovic, who has played 61 career games in two seasons, secured the starting nod alongside Bam Adebayo midway through last season and is the presumptive favorite to earn it entering 2024-25. He averaged 7.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists on 45.2/39.9/70.2 shooting splits last season.
***
To check out our other content, click here.
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Twitter/X here!
Follow Hot Hot Hoops on Instagram here!
Subscribe to our YouTube channel here!
I’m really glad to see Jovic playing in the Olympics
I’m glad he’s the type of dude that plays through injury instead of sitting out. I think he can learn a lot from playing with Jokic. Most important, he’s only 21-years old and has already played in the NBA Finals, FIBA world championship, now the Olympics.
As The Sports Guy would say, that’s a lot of reps playing high-end basketball. All of this experience in big games will be valuable when he’s a veteran.