Erik Spoelstra, the coach of the Miami Heat, spoke after Nikola Jovic’s career game about his progress and discipline.
Nikola Jovic played a career best game against the Milwaukee Bucks last night, scoring 24 points, and it’s evident that the American coach is pleased with the development of the young Serbian player.
“He’s detail-oriented, disciplined, understands, puts in the work in all aspects, and has been progressing for several years. It didn’t happen overnight. It’s linear, you have ups and downs as you learn and get into competitive form, learn from mistakes, he’s been with us from the start, all those things are important. He’s been very dedicated,” said Erik Spoelstra.
“Nikola’s maturity and growth from last year are evident. He even handles it when the guys come back, doesn’t get discouraged, but keeps working. After the game against Boston, he went straight to the gym to work more with the coaches. When a guy starts doing that, you see things start to change,” he continued.
And how much Nikola’s joy means to the NBA finalists is best described by Bam Adebayo, the center of the Florida team.
“I feel like we always win when Niko has a smile on his face.”