IT WAS A suggestion at first. The kind of thing a friend brings up during a long car ride when there will be plenty of time to discuss it. And in the winter of 2019, Denver Nuggets strength and conditioning coach Felipe Eichenberger had his pick of long car rides to the airport with star center Nikola Jokic to choose from.
The two had grown close in the four years they'd worked together. Eichenberger spent a month with Jokic in the big man's native Serbia each offseason. Jokic was present when Eichenberger's daughter was born -- and for all of her birthday parties afterward.