Steve Hess is a very familiar name within the Denver Nuggets organization. He was the team’s longtime strength and conditioning coach who had worked with a wide array of Nuggets players, including Nikola Jokic.
Hess’ job was to help players enhance their health and performance. He was credited with the swift improvement of Jokic’s workout habits and work ethic. However, he insisted that it was Nikola who did that to himself.
According to Hess, Jokic demonstrated a willingness to be in tip-top shape early on, which made his job a lot easier. In fact, the Joker quickly moved on to the stage, where they focused on improving his athletic abilities.
“All the credit goes to him. He’s bought into the whole system. He came into Denver at 296 pounds; he’s 265 right now,”Hess told Fox Sports of Jokic in 2017. “He’s dedicated to the process; he works with the entire team to get better daily. His nutritional habits are amazing.”
“I think he’s a stud. You can’t teach seven feet, the skill that he has with his hands and his ability to understand the game, you can’t teach. Will he ever have a 44-inch vertical leap? I don’t think so, but we’re moving in that direction,” he added.
Jokic’s best trait as a pupil
Part of Hess’ scope of work is to also track the progress of a player’s attitude towards improving himself. In Nikola’s case, Steve revealed that everything was nearly flawless.
Hess had been with the Nuggets for over two decades, and he could already tell which pupils were outstanding. For him, Jokic is definitely one of them.
Hess was certain that Jokic would continue to make great strides as a player because his foundation was humility. It’s something that not even some of the greatest players of all time po
“What he does amazes me, his ability to understand the game and continue to learn the game is amazing,” Hess added. “But the most amazing thing about the man? Joker is humble. He’s humble and he’s hungry. He’s one of the most amazing people I’ve ever worked with.”
Jokic used to be unhealthy
Hess turned out to be right about Jokic. His humility and hunger enabled him to reach his full potential as an athlete. In 2021, Nikola won the first of his three NBA MVP awards. Two years later, he led the Nuggets to their first NBA championship in franchise history.
Jokic’s journey to success was no walk in the park. Before working out with Hess in Denver, he lived an unhealthy lifestyle characterized by his addiction to sugary drinks, specifically Coca-Cola.
“Yeah. Maybe three liters or so. It was a lot,” Jokic once confessed in 2017 in a separate discussion. “Never in the morning because we had practices in the morning, and I could never drink before. But after practice, it was glass after glass. I couldn’t stop.”
“I haven’t had any in the last one-and-a-half years. On my flight to come to Denver, I had my last Coke ever,” he added. “It was easy. It felt really good, actually. It was good to know I didn’t need it.”
At present, Jokic still indulges every now and then. In fact, he was often spotted drinking beer during the offseason. However, Nikola is now mentally strong and mature enough not to let all his hard work go to waste.