Nikola Jovic

Nikola Jovic was born on June 9, 2003, in Leicester, England where his father Llija was playing professionally. At the age of nine, his family moved to Belgrade where Nikola participated in water polo for VK Partizan. He didn't begin playing basketball seriously until he was 13 and originally played guard before a growth spurt took him to just under 6-foot-11. Jovic was playing basketball for the KK Sava youth system before he joined the Mega Bemax youth system in 2018. He made a name for himself during the 2020-21 Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament in the Serbian capital Belgrade, where he came home with the MVP award, averaging 29.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.8 blocks in 28 minutes per game while shooting an efficient 66% from the field. After that tournament, he also participated in the 2021 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup, where he was a member of the Serbia U19 national team. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 18.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game and was named to the all-tournament team. During the 2021-22 season with Mega Bemax, Jovic averaged 11.7 points while shooting 42.8 percent from the field, 35.6 percent on threes and 75.4 percent from the free throw line, 4.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists to 2.7 turnovers and 0.4 blocks per game in 25 appearances. After playing internationally, the Miami Heat selected him with the 27th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft.