Don’t mess with Nikola Jokic’s brothers. The two behemoths, Strahinja and Nemanja, came into spotlight four years ago after The Joker got into a physical altercation with Markieff Morris. During the Nuggets vs Heat clash, Jokic retaliated to Markieff’s hard intentional foul by running through him while he was walking away. After the confrontation, the other Morris twin, Marcus called out Joker on X, “Waited till bro turned his back smh. NOTED.” However, Strahinja and Nemanja came to their brother’s aid and issued a stern warning to Marcus.

“@MookMorris2 You should leave this the way it is instead of publicly threatening our brother! Your brother made a dirty play first. If you want to make a step further be sure we will be waiting for you !!” Jokic Brothers tweeted, making it clear that they always have Nikola’s back. Well, the Jokic brothers, or any other overseas player for that matter, are cut from a different cloth. And Mavs’ former majority owner, Mark Cuban revealed what makes them different during his latest appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show.

“You’ve never seen a game in Serbia. Like Jokic has said before, Joker said ‘Oh guys are yelling at me. No! Dude, have you ever seen a game in Serbia?’ and you watch them, that’s where you see the videos of the entire stadium bouncing up and down. Look at Jokic’s brothers. They’re aggressive right. They don’t put up with anything.” The multi-billionaire remarked.

Yes, there are several videos online of the wild atmosphere during basketball games in Europe. Only the toughest players survive and thrive in that level of intensity. That’s why Joker has been arguably the best player in the league for the last few years, despite his lack of athleticism and speed. Even this season, he is averaging a 29.7-point triple-double. Same goes for Luka Doncic.

Cuban continued, “So just that mindset that you have just when you’re on the court, your intensity is at a different level. You see that with Jokic, you see that with Luka, you see that with other players. And that historically has been who they are and you have to understand where people are from in the world. The culture you grow up in makes a difference to who you are as an athlete, as a professional in any sport and as a business person for that matter.” But is this change good for the league?

Mark Cuban claims Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic type mindset is “great” for NBA as he reveals Mavs’ mistake

After Cuban highlighted Luka and Jokic’s unique mindset because of their cultural background, Stephen A. asked if it’s good for the NBA. Without hesitation, Mark replied, “Yes! Its great right because the beauty of the NBA is that we accept all cultures from around the world because they’re all different and that’s what makes us unique in that we’re very very accepting no matter where you’re from.”

Then, he dove into how Doncic is misconstrued by many because of his different lifestyle off the court, “He’s always really intense on the court. Always. You see his response to the referees. You see his response to anybody. He is intense.” One of the reasons Nico Harrison traded Luka was because he wanted a player more aligned with the team’s culture and there were doubts about Doncic’s conditioning following last year’s playoff run.

But Cuban deemed it a mistake on the Mavs’ part, “They go back and they live their lives just different. You’ve gotta accept those differences and players from that part of the world and I think that was part of our mistake.”

He said something similar about Jokic’s unique way of living, “While Joker might not be as purely emotional and I don’t get to see as many of his games, the guy is intense. When the game is over and he goes back home, he’s more interested in harness racing which by the way I grew up watching my entire life. So, I don’t blame him.” So, even though Jokic and Luka might seem all laid back off the court, when it’s time to lock in, there might be no one better in the league than them. Thoughts?