The Denver Nuggets’ historic success of 2023 really began in 2014 with a draft selection that hardly drew a ripple of excitement across the NBA.

With the 41st pick of the second round, the Nuggets drafted relative unknown Nikola Jokic, with no college experience, from the European nation of Serbia.

He was hardly a household name, even among hoops’ enthusiasts.

The 6-foot-11 center had played for Mega Basket of the Adriatic League in 2013 with modest numbers (11 points, six rebounds, three assists per game).

Denver knew something others didn’t, yet they still dragged their feet well into the second round before making it official.

The Serbian has become an overachiever of all time with two NBA Player of Year Awards, another runner-up finish, and now a chance to lead the Coloradans to their first NBA crown.

His blend of scoring, rebound and sleight-of-hand passing has Jokic in the same conversation with the greatest big men in pro annals.

There aren’t many NBA rags-to-riches stories. Most game changers were prep and college phenoms who were selected in the draft’s first round (often top half of first round).

Here’s how Jokic’s teammates came to the Rocky Mountains:

Jamal Murray (first round, seventh pick, 2016, from Kentucky) Michael Porter (first round, fourth pick, 2018, from Missouri)

Aaron Gordon (first round, fourth pick, 2014, from of Arizona)

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (first round, 13th pick, from Georgia)

Jeff Green (first round, fifth pick, from Georgetown

Christian Braun (first round, 21st pick, from Kansas)

Zeke Nnaji (first round, 22nd pick, out of Arizona)

Bruce Brown (second round, 42nd pick, 2018, from Miami.)

Jokic wasn’t even Denver’s first selection in the 2014 Draft. With the 11th pick, the Nuggets tabbed Creighton’s Doug McDermott, who was quickly traded to Chicago for Bosnian Jusuf Nurkic.

It’s not too different among the Nuggets’ Finals opponent Miami Heat.

Front-liners Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, Cody Zeller, Kyle Lowry, Tyler Herro, Kevin Love and Victor Oladipo were all first-round picks.

An outlier, perhaps even more so than Jokic, is Heat forward Haywood Highsmith. The Baltimore native played collegiately at Wheeling, W.Va., Jesuit and was undrafted despite being 2018 NCAA Division II Player of the Year.