Nikola Jokic dreams of becoming a trotting coach: 'It's great fun' / News - Basketnews.com

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The two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic is one of the most well-known basketball players on the planet. He is about to sign a record-breaking contract extension with the Denver Nuggets. However, his life goals are much simpler.

2-pointers this season

57%28,9Points made:28,9Accuracy:57,3%Place in standings:11Record max:39Record min:16Most made 2FGs:Nikola JokicTeamNBAStatisticsSchedule

The Serbian center is visiting the Solvalla harness racecourse in Stockholm, Sweden this weekend to watch the annual Elitloppet race.

"My dream is to move back to Serbia and become a trotting coach after my basketball career," Jokic told Peter Andersson of TV4. "My country is, unfortunately, the worst in Europe in trotting and there are maybe 150 starting horses and it is very difficult to start abroad. But it's still great fun."

Jokic even warmed up one of the horses before the race. Later on, he was seen in the winner's circle after a horse named Bepi Bi won the Sweden Cup.

Jokic grew up on a farm in the small town of Sombor, Serbia, where as a teenager he fell in love with horses, especially trotters, at the track in his hometown and even worked there for six years cleaning stalls. He now owns his own farm with a training track and about nine trotters.

The 2021-2022 NBA MVP award was even presented to Jokic on his farm. Earlier this year, the Serbian superstar also visited the Meadowlands racecourse in the USA.

"In Serbia, horse racing is not really a big sport. I'm enjoying being around the horses. It's my first passion," he told in an interview back then.

"He's fascinated by the business," legendary horse trainer Nifty Norman said back in December. "That's all he wanted to talk about. He was more fascinated by us than we were by him. Basketball is how he makes a living and the horses are his passion — that's basically what he said to me."

"He follows everything. He watched all the [recent] Breeders Crown races and texted me after every race. I got a thousand texts from him in the last two months," Hall of Fame harness racing driver Tim Tetrick told the media.

Nikola Jokic riding horses last summer:

Jokic interview at the Meadowlands:

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