Nikola Jović ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Јовић, ; born 9 June 2003) is a Serbian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player for the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Eastern C ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He was selected 27th overall by the Heat in the 2022 NBA draft.

Early career

Jović was born in the Royal Infirmary in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warw ...

, England due to his professional basketball player father Ilija playing there at the time. He grew up playing

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

for VK Partizan as well as basketball. Jović was playing basketball for the KK Sava

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

before he joined the Mega Basket youth system in 2018. At the 2021–22 Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament in the Serbian capital

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, he averaged 29.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.8 blocks in 28 minutes per game, while shooting 66% from the field and 17% from

three 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

and won the MVP award.

Professional career

Mega Basket (2021–2022)

Jović made his senior debut for Mega Basket in February 2021 at the

Radivoj Korać Cup The Radivoj Korać Cup ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Куп Радивоја Кораћа, Kup Radivoja Koraća) is the men's national basketball cup of Serbia. It is run by the Basketball Federation of Serbia and is named after Serbian basketball legend and ...

tournament in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

. On 19 March, Jović made his

ABA League The ABA League, renamed the ABA League First Division in 2017, is the top-tier regional men's professional basketball league that originally featured clubs from former Yugoslavia (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedoni ...

debut in a 74–65 loss to

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

recording 10 points and 9 rebounds in 21 minutes of playing time. On 10 June 2021, one day after his 18th birthday he signed his first professional contract with Mega. In the

NBA.com The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

GM Survey for the

2021–22 NBA season The 2021–22 NBA season was the 76th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The regular season began on October 19, 2021, and ended on April 10, 2022. For the first time since the 2018–19 season, the NBA returned to its usual O ...

, Jović received votes for the best international player not playing in the NBA. In April 2022, he was named the

ABA League Top Prospect The ABA League Top Prospect award, also known as the Adriatic League Top Prospect award, is an annual award given by the ABA League, Adriatic League (ABA League), which is a European regional league, that is the top-tier level professional basketba ...

for the 2021–22 season. During the 2021–22 season, Jović 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 In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

, 4.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists to 2.7 turnovers and 0.4 blocks per game in 25 appearances.

Miami Heat (2022–present)

In April 2022, Jović declared for the 2022 NBA draft. On 23 June 2022, Jović attended the 2022 NBA draft held at the

Barclays Center Barclays Center ( ) is a multi-purpose list of indoor arenas, indoor arena in the New York City Boroughs of New York City, borough of Brooklyn. The arena is home to the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association and the New York Liber ...

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. He was selected with the 27th overall pick by the

in the Draft. Jović officially signed a multi-year rookie scale contract with the Heat on 2 July 2022. In July 2022, he joined the Heat for the

NBA Summer League The NBA Summer League, also known as the Las Vegas Summer League, is an off-season basketball competition organized by the National Basketball Association (NBA). NBA teams come together to try out different summer rosters instead of their regula ...

. On 23 October 2022, Jović was suspended for one game without pay for leaving the bench during an altercation between the Heat and the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), E ...

the night before. He was assigned to the

NBA G League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the Minor league#Basketball, developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of ...

on 30 December 2022. Jović made the

2023 NBA Finals The 2023 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2022–23 NBA season, 2022–23 season and conclusion to 2023 NBA playoffs, the season's playoffs. In the best-of-seven playoff series, the Western Co ...

but the Heat lost the series in 5 games to the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Conference (NBA), W ...

. On February 13, 2024, Jović scored a career-high 24 points, with 7 rebounds, in a 123–97 win against the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

. On April 28, 2025, during the first round of the playoffs, Jović recorded 24 points, five rebounds and two steals in a 138–83 Game 4 loss against the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

, eliminating the Heat from the playoffs.

National team career

Jović missed the 2019 FIBA U16 European Championship in

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, Italy due to a right arm injury. In July 2021, Jović was a member of the Serbia U19 national team at the

FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup The FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup (formerly FIBA Under-19 World Championship) is the under-19 men's world basketball championship organised by the FIBA, International Basketball Federation (FIBA). From its inauguration in 1979, until 2007, i ...

. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 18.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game. He was named to the all-tournament team. In February 2022, Jović made his debut for the Serbia national team at the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, at the age of 18. Initially at the preliminary Serbia roster for EuroBasket 2022, Jović was cut from the squad due to disapproval of the Heat. In August 2023, Jović played for the Serbia national team at the 2023 FIBA World Cup. He averaged 10.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists over eight games helping

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

win the silver medal. He won the bronze medal at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

with Serbia.

Career statistics

Adriatic League

Regular season

NBA

Regular season

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, 46 , , 10 , , 25.1 , , .456 , , .371 , , .828 , , 3.9 , , 2.8 , , .8 , , .3 , , 10.7 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 107 , , 56 , , 21.1 , , .450 , , .370 , , .804 , , 3.8 , , 2.2 , , .7 , , .3 , , 8.7

Playoffs

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2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

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References

External links

Profile
at euroleague.net
Profile
at realgm.com
Profile
at eurobasket.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Jovic, Nikola 2003 births Living people 21st-century English sportsmen 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup players ABA League players Basketball players at the 2024 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Belgrade British expatriate basketball people in Serbia English men's basketball players English people of Serbian descent KK Mega Basket players Medalists at the 2024 Summer Olympics Miami Heat draft picks Miami Heat players NBA players from England NBA players from Serbia NBA players from the United Kingdom Olympic basketball players for Serbia Olympic bronze medalists for Serbia Olympic medalists in basketball Power forwards Serbia men's national basketball team players Serbian expatriate basketball people in the United States Serbian men's basketball players Sioux Falls Skyforce players Small forwards Sportspeople from Leicester

Early career

Professional career

Mega Basket (2021–2022)

Miami Heat (2022–present)

National team career

Career statistics

Adriatic League

Regular season

NBA

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links