NO PERSON IN North America got a better look at Nikola Jokic's game before the 2014 NBA draft than Roy Rana.
The former Sacramento Kings assistant, now coach of the Egypt national team after long working with Canada Basketball at the youth level, served as coach of Jokic's "World" squad at the 2014 Nike Hoop Summit in Portland, Oregon — one of 10 times Rana coached in the event.
Although international scouts such as Rafal Juc of the Denver Nuggets had been able to watch Jokic's development after he averaged 7.1 points and 5.0 rebounds in the 2013 FIBA U19 championships, for many NBA executives, the week of practices leading up to the Hoop Summit was their first extended look at the future two-time NBA Most Valuable Player.
DraftExpress referred to Jokic as "the star of practice the week leading up to the game." And based on Jokic's hot 3-point shooting in those practices, fellow World star (and future Nuggets teammate) Emmanuel Mudiay joked to ESPN draft analyst Jonathan Givony that "I've got Dirk [Nowitzki] on my team."
Despite his front-row seat, Rana wasn't as impressed.
"I would tell you that [Jokic] wasn't a guy that was going to step on the court like [Bismack] Biyombo did in my first Hoop Summit [in 2011], and you were wowed by him because of athletic ability or any type of major impact," Rana told ESPN. "[Jokic] didn't have a major impression either way.
"He was just kind of there."
And Jokic was "just kind of there" two months later, when the Nuggets selected the 6-foot-11, 284-pound center with the seemingly inconsequential second-round (No. 41) pick in the draft.
What has transpired after Jokic went unceremoniously in that 2014 draft is one of the most unexpected and dominant careers in NBA history, which now includes a title and Finals MVP Award.
Although the league's global search for players and increased emphasis on player development has to some degree democratized the influx of talent, true superstardom remains the near-exclusive province of players drafted inside the first 14 picks awarded via the draft lottery.
Even after an NBA Finals matchup against a Miami Heat team led by 2011 No. 30 pick Jimmy Butler, supported in large part by a fleet of contributors who were undrafted, Jokic — famously, or infamously, selected in the second round during a commercial break — stands alone:
Jokic is the greatest draft overachiever in league history.
This is the story of how his NBA potential escaped the league's talent evaluators a decade ago — including, by his own admission, the one who actually drafted him — in part because Jokic's skill set was (and still is) one-of-a-kind.