“I’m Getting Ruder”: Nikola Jokic Drops Surprising Truth About Himself After Declaring He’s No Role Model

Charles Barkley shocked the sports world by declaring "I am not a role model" in a Nike commercial that still gets replayed today. Now Nikola Jokic is channeling that same energy, except that the three-time MVP isn't stopping at rejecting the role-model label.

He's admitted that fame has worn him down to the point where he's becoming ruder to strangers who approach him in public. Speaking on the Jao Mile Podcast with host Mile Ilic, Jokic didn't hold back on how draining life as one of basketball's biggest stars has become.

"I'm getting more and more bothered by popularity," he said. "This is going to sound corny, but I'm getting ruder to people who approach me. Honestly, it's tiring… Some people around me know, I don't take pictures because it's my time."

"I'll sound rude again, but what can I do?" he continued. "If people can't understand me, I understand everything, but it's been 11-12 years and enough is enough. I feel better when someone tells me something, like you come to the zoo and take a picture of something."

Since entering the league in 2015, he's collected three MVP awards, an NBA championship and a Finals MVP. It turned him into one of the most recognizable athletes on the planet along the way.

That kind of sustained stardom, now well over a decade running, is exactly the message Jokic pointed to when explaining why his patience for public attention has finally worn thin.

Jokic used that same podcast appearance to reject a label most superstars accept without question. "I don't know if a public figure should really influence children," he said. "I think that role belongs to family and friends… People tell me, 'they look up to you as an example!' Well, they shouldn't, just like I also didn't look up to others either."

He pointed to his own upbringing as proof that outside influence only goes so far. "I figured out it wasn't cool to go out at 16 and get drunk on the street when I had to train. I don't think I have that much influence over young people," framing the role-model expectation as something fans project onto him rather than something he ever asked for.

It shows where Jokic's head is at this stage of his career. Whether it's brushing off a photo request or shrugging off the idea that kids should model themselves after him, the underlying message is the same: Jokic wants credit for what he does on the court, not responsibility for things he never signed up to carry off it.