Nikola Jokic blossomed from an opt-neglected center into one of the world's best players after towing the Denver Nuggets to the National Basketball Association title.

June Mar Fajardo and Yeng Guiao were in awe of Jokic's improvement as he displayed tremendous character, maturity and grit in powering the Nuggets to a 4-1 victory over the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals best-of-seven series.

As part of the Gilas Pilipinas team that faced the Serbians in the preliminaries of the FIBA World Cup in 2019, Fajardo personally experienced the on-court brilliance of the 28-year-old Serbian slotman.

"I think he was already a great player when we played them in 2019," said Fajardo, who was given the tough task of containing the 6-foot-11 Jokic during their 67-126 loss to Serbia in 2019.

"But he has become a better player as he displayed maturity in his game this season, especially during the playoffs and finals series."

True enough, Jokic was a force to be reckoned with in the playoffs.

In fact, he was the first player in NBA history to lead the playoffs in total points, rebounds and assists with norms of 30.0, 13.5, and 9.5, respectively,

More than that, he made the rest of the Nuggets look good, especially playmaker Jamal Murray, who displayed a masterful performance in Game 3, and Aaron Gordon, who fired 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists in Game 4.

"He's a plus factor. He was definitely a big help and an asset to their campaign," said Fajardo, referring to Murray.

Guiao, who was handling Gilas Pilipinas in 2019, recalled how great of a player Jokic was even during that time.