Fans have been dreaming about a perfect season for Nikola Jokic, which would start by winning EuroBasket and the MVP with Team Serbia. But that’s going to be a much tougher task after the news that Bogdan Bogdanovic will likely miss the rest of the tournament with a hamstring injury.
It is feared that the Clippers’ Bogdan Bogdanović will miss the rest of @EuroBasket after sustaining a hamstring injury. Tournament favorites Serbia obviously still have Nikola Jokić but have lost their captain. https://t.co/wuvQhU0yXs
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) August 31, 2025
Bogey, Team Serbia’s captain, took an ugly spill on Friday against Portugal and has since been diagnosed with a ruptured hamstring that will knock him out of these European Championships. It was also announced that Bogdanovic will return to the United States and undergo intensive treatment in hopes of being ready to play for the Clippers as soon as possible.
Serbia is still favored to win the tournament, and they’ve cruised to an impressive 4-0 record so far, but this is a major blow. Bogey had averaged 9 points and 3.5 rebounds over 20 minutes in the two full games he played, but he was barely needed as the team wasn’t tested.
We all know what a gamer he is and what a clutch performer he can be. At some point, Serbia will likely run into some adversity, and Bogey is one of the guys they would have trusted to be out on the floor with Jokic and company. So, all hope is not lost, but the path to gold got a lot rockier.
Jokic has real chance at perfect season
For Jokic, it’s all on the table. He could still lead Serbia to win the EuroBasket and win the MVP Award for the tournament as well. After that, he’d be rolling into the NBA season in great shape and with more confidence than ever.
With the Nuggets’ reshaped bench, the team should take a leap, and there’s no reason to think Jokic can’t win his fourth NBA MVP Award this season if the team gets a top-three seed. From there, why couldn’t Denver win the title?
They are clearly one of the biggest threats to the Thunder, and we’ve all seen how hard it is to win back-to-back championships these days. With any slippage from OKC - and perhaps even without any - the Nuggets are primed to step up and get back on top of the NBA world. In that case, it seems almost certain that Jokic would take home Finals MVP honors as well.
Maybe this sounds like a lot of “ifs”, but none of them are really that crazy. Jokic has a real chance to dominate the sport of basketball all over the world in the span of about 10 months, like we’ve never seen before. It won’t be easy, but that kind of run would cement his standing in the history of the sport.
It will be harder without Bogey in the fold for Serbia, but if anyone can overcome this latest obstacle, it’s the Joker.