Miami Heat star Nikola Jovic was seen recently in a walking boot as he is currently in Serbia preparing for the Summer Olympics in Paris, France. While fans of Miami might experience deja vu because of all the injury woes this past season, this one is not expected to be anything serious in terms of his availability for the Olympics and in this case, for the team's next season.
The Heat told ClutchPoints Thursday and confirmed the reports that Jovic is suffering from a left ankle sprain where he will be re-evaluated in two weeks. In the photo mentioned before posted by the account “Sportal.rs” on X (formerly known as Twitter), it showed the recently turned 21-year old with a walking boot on his left leg having to use a stroller-like device in Belgrade, the capital city of Serbia.
“Our basketball player Nikola Jović was seen at the airport in Belgrade, wearing an orthopedic boot on his left leg,” the post said which was translated using Google.
Jovic on what he learned from starting a lot of games for the Heat
Jovic was part of the Serbian national team in the last FIBA World Cup where he was awarded the silver medal as he looks to come back after his best season yet with the Heat. Even at his young age, he was relied upon a lot to be in the starting lineup in the second half of the season at the four spot to bring size, provide spacing, and be a solid compliment to Bam Adebayo.
“I kind of learned how hard it is to just play every other day and be a starter,” Jovic said in an interview with HoopsHype. “Just locking in every possible and just thinking about basketball all the time is something that helped me stay focused. I kind of feel like having a routine was a big thing for me, basically having a good routine every day where you stay the course and you stay ready for the games. As soon as I started a few games in a row, I found a way to contribute every other night and kind of clicked for me.”
Erik Spoelstra expects a “really important productive offseason” for Jovic
There is no doubt that Jovic is a crucial part of the Heat's young core along with rookie last year in Jaime Jaquez Jr., though as the offseason heats up, their names could be thrown in trade rumors. With that being said, Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra was one that praised Jovic throughout the season and especially at the end where he expects him to have a “really important productive offseason.”
“He’ll be motivated to have a really important productive offseason,” Spoelstra said. “He has to really get after it again. He made tremendous progress last offseason. The six weeks leading up into summer league and then the World Cup, he’ll need another summer like that. The Olympics will help.”
This past season, Jovic averaged 7.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.0 assists while averaging 45.2 percent from the field as he also started in all five playoff games this season in the first round against the Boston Celtics. In any sense, the Heat are looking to improve after their second straight season finishing at the eighth seed with a 46-36 record.
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