Next step in Nikola Jokic’s development: cultivate an audience in the US that isn’t basketball dorks. Basically, appeal to the Curry-lovers and Kobe-stans. It’ll be hard, because of certain characteristics he possesses (whiteness, flabbiness, etc), but it’s doable.
First, he has to grow an afro. Years of focused research has shown that Urban Millennials love afros. That means no more haircuts for Jokic. If his follicles don’t start forming a sphere on the top of his head, that means he isn’t using enough product. This has to be done correctly. We don’t want him looking like the 5th Beatle here.
Second, he needs to get some bling. Bling is a thing that all the popular NBA players have, and he has none of it. Serbians don’t care about bling, but USAians definitely do. So that’s the second phase in creating a new fanbase. The bling phase.
Third, he should try and close his mouth while he’s standing around on the court, waiting for play to resume. No one likes a mouthbreather. It makes for good thumbnail images, but only because I try and choose the most unflattering ones I can.
Fourth, he needs to start a beef with a rapper. This beef needs to include angry Twitter posts and post-game interviews where he “calls out” the rap person. I don’t know the names of any rappers who would be good candidates for beefage, but that’s not my job. Jokic has to figure this out for himself.
Once he’s done those four things, he should be the third most popular player in the US among teens, after Stephen Curry and LeBron James. This is assuming that he keeps up his current level of production, which is a good assumption because obviously he’s not going to get worse at only 21 years old. Duh.