Nikola Jokic Nearly Walked Away From The NBA And $275 Million
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It’s no secret that Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic isn’t exactly the most outwardly passionate guy in the NBA. In fact, fans have often questioned whether Jokic, perhaps the best player in the league, even likes basketball.
Those questions won’t go away anytime soon, especially after a new story from former Nuggets teammate DeMarcus Cousins.
According to Cousins, Jokic nearly walked away from an absolutely staggering amount of money at the absolute peak of his ability.
Nikola Jokic Told DeMarcus Cousins He Was Thinking About Retiring In 2022
In 2022, Jokic put up one of the greatest individual seasons in NBA history en route to his second consecutive MVP award. But even that wasn’t enough to fuel his passion for basketball.
According to Cousins, he had to prompt Jokic to sign a five-year, $276 million contract following the season.
“When I was in Denver, our lockers were next to each other in the locker room,” Cousins said on a recent episode of the “Straight Game” podcast. “I don’t remember who had just signed an extension at the time, but I told him: ‘Your new contract is going to be insane!’ He told me: ‘Cuz, I might retire before that contract.’
“I said: ‘You’re going to leave $300 million on the table? Are you crazy? Sign the contract and then get fat, become bad. Just don’t miss out on $300 million!’ Then he told me: ‘Cuz, I just want to go back to my hometown and chill with my horses.’ I told him: ‘Joke, those horses will be there. You’ll just buy more horses with $300 million.’”
Ultimately, Jokic agreed to the extension, and it worked out for both sides. While Cousins was out of the league following the 2021-22 season, Jokic led the Nuggets to their only NBA championship in franchise history.
Fast forward a few years, and he’s still the best player in the league, although his passion for basketball still doesn’t seem to match his passion for horse racing.
Who knows when Jokic will decide to retire? It will probably happen sooner than anybody expects. But when he does, he’ll be an extremely rich man, and he has DeMarcus Cousins, in part, to thank.