Nikola Jokic capped a dream year in his fledgling career when he helped Serbia qualify for the Rio Olympics after a fine rookie season in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets.
Jokic, who averaged 10 points and seven rebounds in 21.7 minutes on the court for the Nuggets, was named the most valuable player of an Olympic qualifying tournament in Belgrade which hosts Serbia clinched emphatically.
The 21-year-old poured 23 points in Saturday’s 108-77 rout of Puerto Rico which sealed Serbia’s Rio berth, the week-long event being his first involvement with the national team.
“I am at a loss of words to describe how I feel,” the delighted power forward told Reuters after the match.
“I am lucky to be on this team with these guys, who I met just three weeks ago. I have to thank them and the coaching staff for helping me blend in so seamlessly.”
“This is a great bunch with a fantastic atmosphere in the dressing room. A few days’ rest and then we are off to Mount Kopaonilk (in southern Serbia) for the Olympic build-up.”
The versatile Jokic, who can also play as a centre, took a road less travelled to the NBA.
Instead of honing his skills in a stronger European league, he went across the Atlantic last year straight from Serbian, if not European, power club Mega Leks, who are fast becoming a production belt of top talents.
Based in Belgrade but playing their home games 75 kilometres north of the capital in Sremska Mitrovica, a town with a population of just 41,624, Mega Leks finished as last season’s runners-up in a regional league, the Adriatic League, incorporating teams from the former Yugoslavia.
Apart from Jokic, they have nurtured players such as Detroit Pistons centre Boban Marjanovic, who moved up north after a debut season with the San Antonio Spurs.
Jokic pointed out how important the time at Mega Leks was for his career.
“It was my springboard,” he said. “I had all the freedom in the world there to develop the right way as a player.
“I didn’t know what to expect having gone straight to the NBA but things panned out perfectly.”
Although fans and pundits heaped praise on Jokic for his outstanding performances, he said very little had changed in his daily routine and game skills.
“I play the same way, I just gained a bit of muscles and speed to match NBA standards. I do everything I can to help my team on the court, whether it’s the Nuggets or Serbia.”
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Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
