Miami Heat CEO marvels at Nikola Jovic’s performance at the FIBA Basketball World Cup
Adam Simon, CEO of the Miami Heat, has expressed his happiness with forward Nikola Jovic’s performance with Serbia at the FIBA World Cup.
“We are very pleased with Nikola’s performance at the World Cup,” Simon told Meridian Sport. “Coach (Svetislav) Pesic gave him a great opportunity. We saw how hard he worked. He showed a lot of potential. Jović showed great versatility within the team. The coach uses him in many ways in attack. Nikola is one of the youngest players in the tournament, but he plays like a veteran.
Jovic, 20, is one of Serbia’s best players at the World Cup so far. He averages 10.7 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.2 blocks per game over six World Cup matches.
The 6-foot-10 striker’s best game of the tournament so far has come against South Sudan. He completely dominated the game as a leading scorer, finishing with 25 points and converting all nine of his field goal attempts, including five three-pointers. Serbia ended up winning the match by a large margin, defeating South Sudan with a score of 115-83.
On the contrary, Jović’s worst World Cup match so far came against the Dominican Republic. He scored zero points in 24 minutes of playing time and missed all four of his shots from the court. However, Serbia dominated the Dominican Republic – despite a 25-point performance from Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns – and won by 33 points.
Jovic was selected with the 27th pick overall in the 2022 NBA draft and played one season in the NBA with the famous Heat franchise. He averaged 5.5 points, 2.1 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game in 15 games with Miami during the 2022-23 regular season (eight starts).
He starred in four games with the Heat during the 2023 Summer League. He averaged 15.0 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game while shooting 33.3 percent from behind the three-point arc. The striker did not play in the last three games of the Heat’s summer league roster as he was preparing for the World Cup.
Considering Jovic’s performances at a high level in the NBA Summer League and World Cup, he may be very poised to take on a bigger role with the Heat in the 2023-24 regular season. Hopefully, the Serb can earn a place in coach Erik Spoelstra’s coaching staff at some point in his second season.
