Nikola Jovic just can't seem to get out of his own way. And one of his latest - and most surprising - admissions may have just revealed that he may be Erik Spoelstra's biggest challenge yet.
If Spoelstra is going to get anything (much less the most) out of Jovic, it appears this is not only going to be a physical reclamation project, but a mental one too. Jovic just admitted that after receiving his contract extension before the start of last season, his effort level changed.
This is not necessarily something that many players openly admit, but it just goes to show how much Jovic is still very much a work in progress - both on and off the court.
“It changed in a way where I felt like it’s something I wanted so bad then it happened — my motivation actually went a little bit down which is weird because you would think like ‘hey everything is better’ but mentally I was actually down a little bit after that"
Nikola Jovic continues to dig himself into a deeper hole with the fans
In fairness to Jovic, the fact that he was so willing to admit something like this tells me that he's had similar conversations to this with the coaching staff and front office. Or at least you'd hope so. But even though this may not have been a surprising admission for the coaches to hear, it is something that many fans are not going to take kindly.
In most cases, this is kind of the worst-case scenario fear when a big contract extension is agreed upon. This is almost the last thing you'd want to hear from a significant player on a roster. Even though Jovic wouldn't qualify as such on this current roster, he's paid like one.
And that's what makes it truly difficult to digest. The most frustrating part of it all is that this is not necessarily something new with Jovic. It seems that every time he gets honest and has a microphone in front of him, he's digging an even deeper hole for himself.
You appreciate when athletes are honest, but not when they're not performing on the floor as you'd expect, and when their honesty is a derailment to the team or coaching staff.
It's just a bad look. For both the player and the team.
But this is the challenge that Spoelstra and the coaching staff are facing. Again, it's not all physical. There are some mental hurdles that Jovic has already admitted to. The fact that Spoelstra is still holding out hope for Jovic tells us that he's embracing this challenge too.
It clearly won't be easy, and despite the emergence of the return of lofty expectations once again for the Heat, Jovic may in fact be Spoelstra's biggest test yet.
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