Skip to main content

Nikola Jokić Dresses as Gru Before Game 1, Bemoans Being Compared to Him in Despicable Me 4 Promos

Most commentaries on Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić's success make a note to point out how resistant to traditional star-making apparatuses he is. In February, for instance, Louisa Thomas of The New Yorker wrote that Jokić "is certainly the least famous" of the post-Michael Jordan faces of the NBA.

However, even the least Hollywood among us cannot help but be charmed by Mr. Gru.

In an apparent attempt to promote Despicable Me 4, Jokić dressed as the Steve Carell-voiced cartoon supervillain before Game 1 of the Nuggets' playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers Saturday evening—black-and-gray striped scarf and all.

That followed the release of a teaser for the film in which Jokić seeks therapy to deal with people comparing him to Gru—eventually telling Despicable Me's trademark minions, exasperatedly, "I'm not your boss."

Given some of his otherworldly feats on the court, be honest: would you put stealing the moon past Nikola Jokić?