Nikola Jokic’s Embarrassing Lack of Effort While France Scores Game-Winner Baffles Fans – “Sloth”

Center Nikola Jokic is leading his Serbian team in friendlies ahead of the 2027 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.

Nikola Jokic’s Embarrassing Lack of Effort While France Scores Game-Winner Baffles Fans – “Sloth”

Nikola Jokic's Serbia lost again (Image via L'Equipe/X)

Usually, the offseason is the time when Nikola Jokic prefers not to think about basketball and instead devotes his energy to his family, his horses, and life in Serbia.

Other NBA players have started working out extensively to prepare for official team training camps. But the center prefers to take it slow, even though he is acutely aware that the Denver Nuggets depend on him more than anyone.

The only way the 31-year-old can be persuaded to work out and lace up his sneakers is when it comes to representing his nation. That is exactly what has happened this offseason, as Jokic is currently out there battling against other teams to prepare for the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers.

At a time when his close friend Luka Doncic declined to play for the national team to focus on his ongoing child-custody battle with his ex-fiancée, the Nuggets star has no such obstacles.

He led his teammates to battle against Victor Wembanyama‘s France a few days earlier, and ended up singing nothing but praise of his younger rival. Now, they were back facing each other in another friendly.

The game was a hoot, with both teams going back and forth to get a grip on the lead. This continued all the way towards the end, but Jokic helped his team engineer a comeback when France looked to run away.

Then, when Wembanyama’s attention was on the three-time league MVP, Serbia took a one-point lead without Nikola Jokic having to do anything. With just 4.7 seconds remaining, the game was almost in their bag, but then France executed a slick transition game and scored the game-winner at the buzzer.

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Fans tear into Nikola Jokic for ‘standing still’ in final play

When fans watched this sequence, what they noticed was that in that final play, Nikola Jokic was essentially ‘standing still.’ When France started their run out of their half, the father of two was close enough to at least try and poke the ball away.

But he did nothing of that sort, and France’s point guard sent the ball out front to his teammate. This led to some angry reactions from fans, as they felt that the Nuggets center was proving again how unserious he is on defense.

The 6’11” star is known for his offensive prowess, but his lack of effort on the other half has often been touted as the reason the Nuggets do not win crucial games. Now, that problem has spread to his national team, which is why fans felt it was necessary to call him out. Check out examples of those reactions below.

To his credit, this was a friendly before the actual qualifiers start. However, to those defending Nikola Jokic for easing off in a game that may not impact any standings, they felt that the passion to win was evident when the Sombor native threw his hands up in despair after the loss. Therefore, his lack of effort was the sole reason for that reaction.

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Nikola Jokic was not the only one who choked in clutch moments

Before this lack of effort on the final play, Nikola Jokic did do his part and score to help Serbia move within one point of France. Even then, many would call that defensive lapse ‘choking’ in the clutch. However, he was not the only superstar to do so.

Rudy Gobert, Nikola Jokic, and Victor Wembanyama
Rudy Gobert, Nikola Jokic, and Victor Wembanyama (Image via DNVR Nuggets/X)

Before his scoring play, France held a three-point lead with more than 32 seconds on the clock. Victor Wembanyama received the ball with the shot clock down to 9 seconds, tried to create space, but saw another defender coming over to help Miami Heat star Nikola Topic.

He elevated to shoot a long two-pointer, only for the ball not to touch anything near the rim. That airball dropped right into Nikola Jokic’s hands after Serbia executed his scoring play. If not for that airball, France were about to lose; if not for Jokic’s defensive lapse.

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