The Jokić Mural & Court at Dositej Obradović

ABOUT THIS ATTRACTION

The mural went up in February 2018 — painted by Belgrade street artist Andrej Josifovski, known as “Pijanista” — on the facade of OŠ “Dositej Obradović”, the school Jokić attended from first to eighth grade, at Slaviše Vajnera Čiče 5. It shows him in the Nuggets No. 15 jersey, ball in hand, four storeys tall; above his shoulder runs the Denzel Washington line Jokić quoted after a painful NBA playoff loss: “Don’t be afraid to fail big.” The asphalt court in front of the school — where his PE teacher Robert Katona remembers a boy who loved the ball but hated gymnastics — was later rebuilt at Jokić’s expense: proper synthetic flooring, professional stanchions, Plexiglass backboards. When he is home each summer, this is where he plays 3-on-3 with his childhood friends from the SO Koš days, under the watching mural. For basketball pilgrims it is Sombor’s answer to a stadium: free, always open, and guarded by a face the town could not be prouder of.