LA JOLLA, Calif. — It’s not quite like his experience with the Serbian national team, but Nikola Jokic and his Nuggets teammates did some team building Tuesday.
After the first day of training camp at University of California San Diego, Jokic, DeAndre Jordan, Jeff Green and Ish Smith were spotted in the front row of Petco Park taking in the Padres game against the Dodgers. It wasn’t Jokic’s first baseball game. The back-to-back Most Valuable Player said Jameer Nelson took him to a game in Philadelphia his rookie season, but this was a new experience.
“Actually, I thought it was boring before,” Jokic said. “But this (time), we were in the first row. It was a little different.”
Jordan and Green organized the trip, Jokic said.
It’s not quite as intense as the team building that happens with his national team. Jokic said it’s common for his Serbian team to hold two-a-day practice sessions, grab lunch in between and hang together at night after the work was done for the day. The difference in language and amount of time spent together are the biggest differences for the two-time reigning NBA MVP.
“We don’t see each other that much, the Serbia national team,” Jokic said. “We are here for nine, 10 months. … It’s a little bit different.”
Second day, first rotation tweak
The second day of training camp provided Michael Malone the first opportunity to shake up his rotation.
The Nuggets coach said he held Kentavious Caldwell-Pope out of the scrimmage that ended practice Wednesday due to calf soreness. That made room for Bruce Brown in the starting group alongside Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon and Jokic. Christian Braun, the first-round pick out of Kansas, played in the second unit with Bones Hyland, Davon Reed, Jeff Green and DeAndre Jordan.
Caldwell-Pope already a welcome addition
Malone didn’t need to see the new addition to the Nuggets’ starting five in a scrimmage Wednesday to see what he brings to the table.
“What I love about him is that he doesn’t need the ball to be effective. He did that with a championship team with the Lakers. We saw that up close and personal in the Western Conference finals,” Malone said. “He runs the floor, defends, makes open shots, knows where to be on the court offensively and defensively. I think it’s been — for a new player — a really seamless fit because he’s a pro. (He’s a) 10-year (veteran), former world champion. He’s about all the right things. I’m just really thrilled he’s here. I think he’s going to help this team tremendously on both ends.”
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