Is NBA Finals MVP Nikola Jokic too distracted by his side hustle?

Nikola Jokic is known for his absence from the game of basketball in the off-season, treating the sport like a job he wants to get away from in the summer.

After returning to Denver for the start of training camp, he and Jamal Murray were on media duty, answering questions ahead of the new season.

According to @bleacherreport on Instagram, when asked how many times he had touched a basketball over the summer, Jokic said: "A couple of times, not much."

So, what has Nikola Jokic been getting up to over the summer while most players have been grinding away to push themselves for an NBA Championship?

Jokic returns to the NBA after a successful season last year, securing his first NBA Championship and Finals MVP with the Denver Nuggets after defeating the Miami Heat 4-1.

However, Jokic said 2023 was the best year of his life, not because of the NBA Finals but because his horses had won more races in Europe than ever before.

According to the denverpost.com, Jokic said: "We grew. We grew, my horses everywhere. I have them in France, Italy, Serbia. They're all winning races, so I'm happy."

"They don't need to be winning races. That's my hobby. I just wish that they are healthy and that they run well. They don't need to win."

The two-time NBA MVP's star horses are called 'Brenno Laumar' and 'Amy Del Duomo,' and he hopes to buy more horses in the future.

The Finals MVP was caught in Serbia just a few days after his NBA Championship parade and joked with Denver Nuggets president Josh Kroenke about borrowing his jet so he didn't miss his horse race on Sunday.

Over 47,000 people turned up to the horse racing track on the Sunday in June, gathering in the small northern town of Sombor to parade for Jokic.

According to his father Branislav, Jokic developed a strong passion for horse racing and horses in his youth, and it nearly steered him away from playing basketball.

With his obsession with horses and horse racing, are the Denver Nuggets front office and coach Michael Malone worried he will be distracted?

The organization didn't put any pressure on Jokic to continue playing basketball in the summer, with his talent already exceptional.

According to marca.com, Nuggets president Josh Kroenke said, "We all kind of left him alone," noting they didn't text each other for a few months until Sunday, October 1^st.

The Nuggets season opener is in two weeks against the Los Angeles Lakers. Will the lack of basketball affect Jokic, or will he continue where he left off last season?