Nikola Jokic's boredom might really be a market inefficiency

A superstar who just flies in, wins, and flies home might be a real advantage in this era where stars want to also run teams.

Seconds after winning his first NBA Championship, Nikola Jokic summed up the experience with some groundbreaking analysis: “The job is done. We can go home now.” Not exactly Kevin Garnett’s level of enthusiasm when he exclaimed that anything is possible, or LeBron James’ explosion of emotion as he declared his fourth championship for Cleveland.

Nope. Jokic ripped through the playoffs, halfheartedly sprayed some champagne and then looked exasperatedly at the Nuggets’ head of PR when she told him he had to stay in Denver through Thursday for the altogether mundane experience that is a championship parade. Poor guy.

As I joined in the masses marveling at how Jokic was reacting to an accomplishment that usually overcomes anyone else, I also couldn’t help wonder if this might actually be an advantage for Denver. After that parade, Jokic is going to fly home to Serbia, chill there for a few months, then head back to training camp and learn right there and then who his new teammates might be or where some of his old teammates went.

Then, Jokic will go about figuring out how to maximize next year’s iteration of the roster as they attempt to defend their title. If they do, cool. He’ll have to go through that whole cumbersome celebration again, but whatever. If not, it seems pretty unlikely he’s going to storm into the office and demand so-and-so traded, or that Michael Malone get replaced.

Compare that to, say, the star he swept in the conference finals, who immediately after wondered about retirement and has since dropped a couple other breadcrumbs that he needs a better roster and, yeah, I can’t help but wonder which approach might be easier to work with, let alone more fruitful.