With the dominance of Nikola Jokic over the last 5-6 years, Serbian basketball has come under exceptional focus from the global public, especially after the national team won two medals at the last three Olympics, silver and bronze, following losses to Team USA.
However, European basketball fans have always known that, first Yugoslav and later Serbian, basketball had for years produced players of the very highest world-class. Before NBA stars such as Vlade Divac and Peja Stojakovic, there had already been an entire generation of players who dominated European courts.
Throughout all those years of Serbian dominance, there was always one constant — great centers who were products of the Serbian school of basketball, from Radivoj Korac, born in the same city as Jokic, Sombor, to Divac, and later Zeljko Rebraca, Darko Milicic, and Ratko Varda.
Interestingly, Varda was actually Jokic's first mentor in the Serbian club BC Mega, and on the "X&O's CHAT" podcast, the three-time MVP recalled a phenomenal anecdote with the 7-foot center.
"I always like to mention Rale because he's a phenomenal person, truly phenomenal. A special guy. Always ready to help others. I always say that I still owe him 50 euros. I didn't have money to go home once. I was crying and he told me, 'Here, take this and go home,' and he gave me 50 euros so I can go home. Even today I remember that and I'm grateful for it, even though it was 14–15 years ago. I never paid him back, and I probably never will," Jokic said while bursting into laughter.
Mega, which was still in its early stages at the time, is today recognized as a machine for developing young players who eventually reach the NBA. In addition to Jokic, current NBA players such as Nikola Jovic , Ivica Zubac , Goga Bitadze and Nikola Topic have all played for the Belgrade-based team.
When a very young and relatively unknown Jokic arrived at Mega, the coach was the late assistant coach of the Golden State Warriors , Dejan Milojevic, while the veterans on the roster that season were Boban Marjanovic and Varda.
Varda himself played just a single NBA game over two seasons with the Detroit Pistons and the Washington Wizards , recording 5 points and 1 rebound in 5 minutes.
Although his NBA career was modest to say the least, in Europe, he was, at the time, one of the better players at his position, and, according to Jokic, he was also a phenomenal veteran presence for young players.
Jokic himself had arrived at Mega from the Serbian club KK Vojvodina Srbijagas, which at the time was not even competing in the highest level of Serbian basketball. He came from a working-class family in Sombor, a town of just 70 thousand people, where nothing is respected except hard work.
Although he did not live in poverty, earning money was difficult, and every cent was valued. The center of the Denver Nuggets was raised with those modest values while still representing them on and off the court today.
However, his homesickness was so strong that he asked the veteran Varda to lend him 50 euros so he could pay for the trip home, and Varda agreed without hesitation. That nostalgia for home later became a trademark of Jokic's career.
At the moment of his greatest happiness, when he led the Nuggets to their first championship in franchise history back in 2023 and won the Finals MVP, his first statement was that the "job was done and that everyone could finally go home".
As for the anecdote about the 50 euros, the eight-time All-Star has earned around $304 million so far in his career, and his next contract is expected to be worth about $180 million, which would push his on-court earnings alone past half a billion dollars — not including endorsement deals.
It is an incredible story for a young man who once literally didn't have 50 euros to return home to a town two hours away, and who today is considered by many to be one of the greatest centers of all time.
Life writes novels, and Jokic's life story will certainly be turned into books and films one day after he retires from the game of basketball.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Mar 9, 2026, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
