Agent Misko Raznatovic shares a story of how he discovered Nikola Jokic / News - Basketnews.com

Raznatovic said that he discovered Jokic after seeing his stat line from the Serbian U18 competition in a newspaper. After gathering some information about Jokic's style of play, Raznatovic ended up signing without his agency ever seeing him play live.

Credit: SIPA – Scanpix Credit SIPA – Scanpix

Misko Raznatovic is arguably the most famous basketball agent in Europe. He's the representative of many great players, the biggest of which is Nikola Jokic. The Serbian operative now told a story of how he discovered the two-time NBA MVP in his small town of Sombor.

Free throws this season

76%17,0Points made:17,0Accuracy:76,2%Place in standings:27Record max:33Record min:5Most made FTs:Nikola JokicTeamNBAStatisticsSchedule

In an interview with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson from All the Smoke show via Showtime Basketball, Raznatovic revealed that it was the only time in his agency's history when such a move was made.

"I was reading a newspaper and saw that one guy in the Serbian U18 competition, which is really low [level of competition], had 29 points and, if I'm not wrong, 26 rebounds. I said 'Wow', not more than that. The next week, next Sunday, I was reading a newspaper again, and I said 'Hey, let me check my guy', and then I saw 30 points, 37 rebounds. It's not my business, it's the business of my scouting department but I was curious - let me check this guy," Raznatovic began.

"So I called my scout and asked him about him. It was silence, he didn't know him. For me, it was the surprise of the year having in mind that he knows all the kids [starting from] 10 years old. I said 'Look, it's obvious that he's a center with 26 rebounds, make one phone call and check if the guy's grabbing rebounds because he's older, stronger, and a big kid, or he's versatile'," the famous agent continued. "He called back in 3 minutes and was like 'No, he's not strong, he's very versatile, even a little overweight, sneaky but talented'."

After discovering Jokic as a player, Raznatovic made sure that the player's family knows about their interest.

"I'm a guy who believes in a system, projections, analysis, and I don't why but I told him - I want to sign this guy, so go to his place, which is like 50 miles from Belgrade, find the family, and talk with them," Raznatovic said. "He went there, made a conversation with the family. The family is great, [it's a] very stable, old-fashioned Serbian family, they really take care of their kids well. They were very happy that an agency of that size was interested in their kid, who, by the way, never went to the practices of the senior team. They didn't recognize him."

Raznatovic revealed that his BeoBasket agency ended up making an exception, and it was the only time when it was done throughout the long history of its existence.

"They joined the agency but they wanted to see me. Two days later, I came, we talked, had very good chemistry, especially with his older brother Strahinja. He was there, he was really important in that moment for this decision and many other decisions in Serbia. He really helped him become what he is, especially in the beginning when it was really hard," Raznatovic said. "Nikola joined the agency at 17-and-a-half. This is the first and last player in the 27-year-old history of the agency when we signed him without anybody seeing him."

More than a decade later, Jokic is now considered one of the best basketball players in the world.

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