Shortly after being drafted fifth overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 2002 NBA Draft, Nikoloz Tskitishvili poses in his new jersey following a news conference at the Pepsi Center.

Growing up in the Republic of Georgia, it was Tskitishvili who introduced basketball to Tskitishvili. Now 19, with a great deal to learn about basketball - and life - the rookie is viewed as a potential savior for a Denver Nuggets organization that last saw the playoffs when he was 12. Whether he can lead the Nuggets to the postseason, only time will tell. But the 7-foot, 225-pound small forward could be a fantastic story in the making.

"Nobody told me to play basketball," said Tskitishvili, selected fifth overall by the Nuggets in last month's draft. "It was just my will, my wish. That is why I went to play basketball."

On April 14, 1983, the Nuggets were close to finishing a season in which they would advance to the Western Conference semifinals. In Tbilisi, Georgia, in the then-Soviet Union, a boy named Nikoloz Tskitishvili (SKEE-tish-vee-lee) was born to a father who stood 6-5 and a 5-10 mother.

Tskitishvili didn't get the chance to build a father-son bond - his dad died in a car crash when he was 2 years old. Although his mother, Guliko, remarried when he was 9, Tskitishvili never developed a strong relationship with his stepfather. Tskitishvili, who became an instant millionaire after being drafted by Denver, said as a child his family had "less than the norm."

"I always had food; we did not go hungry," Tskitishvili said. "But we did not have anything special or buy a lot of clothes or have a car. I had clothes, but nothing special like Versace."

Boogie fever

Tskitishvili was something special at moving his feet to his native Georgian traditional dance. He was so good, in fact, that at age 9, he became a professional dancer on the national team.

His ever-increasing height did become a problem, however.

"When I was 6 years old I started to dance," Tskitishvili said. "But I grew up to be too tall. My dance partner was too small. It was a very popular dance. When I was 9, I was on the Georgian national team that was like the Dream Team here."

Although Tskitishvili became an accomplished dancer, he left the dance floor for the hardwood after another former Dream Team member caught his eye.

Tskitishvili fell in love with the NBA via television. He joined kids all over the world in becoming a huge Michael Jordan fan as a teen. He began collecting any NBA memorabilia he could get his hands on.

Dancing soon was forgotten, and he began playing street basketball as much as possible. Wanting to go farther than just shooting jumpers on a Tbilisi playground, a 12-year-old Tskitishvili, now 5-9, walked into a sports school called Kohla hoping to convince the basketball coach to pick him.

"I went by myself to a sports school gym," Tskitishvili said. "When I came into the gym and introduced myself to the coach, he was very happy to see me. He told me that I had everything to play basketball: tall, fast, good footwork. He said that I had the talent. I was on the team for four years."

Turning pro

Before his professional career began, a European scout from the Minnesota Timberwolves tried to convince Tskitishvili to play collegiately in the United States. Tskitishvili declined because his family needed his financial support, instead playing professionally in Europe.

Tskitishvili, a 7-foot teenager from the Republic of Georgia, takes one of his first looks at his new uniform.

Tskitishvili played a season in Slovenia before joining Benetton Treviso in Italy in January, coached by former Nuggets coach Mike D'Antoni. While his height and skills were apparent, Italian basketball politics, his age and lack of experience led to limited playing time. He did not play in the title game in which Benetton Treviso clinched the Italian A League championship.

Even so, Tskitishvili's potential drew raves from NBA teams. But even Tskitishvili admitted during a visit in Italy by the Golden State Warriors that he had no idea how good he could be because he never played.

"I hope he fools people and shows that he is more ready than people think," said D'Antoni, now an assistant with the Phoenix Suns. D'Antoni said he believes Tskitishvili can gain 20 pounds during the next six months. "He's going to be good. But his hype has been so high that people will be expecting a lot. They need to be patient because he is years away.

"Skill-wise, he is off the chart. He just needs experience."

Nuggets debut

Saturday marked a major day in Tskitishvili's young career. The kid from a less-than-average background signed his first NBA contract. And that night, the rookie made his Nuggets debut at the Rocky Mountain Revue in Salt Lake City.

Denver opened against the host Utah Jazz and a near sold-out, pro-Jazz crowd at Salt Lake Community College. One player the Jazz faithful was eager to see was 2002 all-rookie small forward Andrei Kirilenko, who was starting against Tskitishvili. About 45 minutes before the game, Tskitishvili was quite nervous. But after tipoff, the new Nugget showed why he was so heralded.

Early in the game, Tskitishvili got rid of his butterflies with a fast-break layup. Later in the first quarter with the shot clock running down, he made a pretty crossover dribble that left Kirilenko off-balance, dribbled backward through his legs and lofted a deep 3-pointer in time. Even Jazz fans cheered in appreciation. The Nuggets won 64-53 and Tskitishvili was the star after scoring a game-high 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting, making all five of his free-throw attempts and nabbing two steals in 28 minutes.

"Skita hit some nice shots," said Nuggets assistant Jeff Bzdelik, who is coaching the summer league team. "Again, it's a learning process. We'll take this, and hopefully he'll get better from it. He did a nice job."

Said Tskitishvili: "It really helped my confidence."

Tskitishvili has been compared to all-stars Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki and 2002 rookie of the year Pau Gasol. While comparisons are inevitable for Tskitishvili, Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe wants him to make his own name.

"It's different," Vandeweghe said. "At the same point, Dirk played a lot, and it still took him a year and half to get to a position where he was an effective player. Now he is one of the best players in the league. I don't think those type of comparisons are fair. They are different types of players. Tskitishvili will be a great player in his own right."

Skita unplugged

Three days after he was drafted, a bored Tskitishvili entered the basketball complex at the Athletic Club at Denver Place downtown and began watching some games. Wearing a New York Yankees jersey, jeans and Allen Iverson Reeboks - and with a major contract pending - the kid nicknamed Skita understandably wasn't interested in joining these basketball mortals. But Tskitishvili made a couple friends afterward, including Warren Boizot. His new buddies took him in for much of the rest of weekend, giving him a tour of downtown Denver.

Tskitishvili asked Boizot and his friends to take him to a shoe store to find some size 16 sneakers. The first two stops met with failure, and none of the employees recognized the potential all-star in their midst.

With lunchtime approaching, Boizot and pals invited Tskitishvili to a downtown Mexican restaurant. Tired of eating hotel and Italian food, Tskitishvili was eager for his first taste of Mexican cuisine.

"He loved it," Boizot said. "He had steak burrito and quesadillas. That was the first time he had Mexican food. He took one bite, and it was like he had the best thing ever. He lit up, big-time."

Boizot didn't see Tskitishvili as the average 19-year-old. Having played away from home for several years, Tskitishvili has been used to being on his own. Then consider he can speak five languages - Georgian, English, Slovenian, Serbian and Russian - and a little Italian.

"I don't know too many guys I would hang out with that are 19, but it never seemed like it because he is so mature," said Boizot, 31. "The language barrier was a little difficult. But as long as you talked through things, he understands and listens. I can't imagine an American kid drafted straight out of high school being half as mature as he is. With everything he has dealt with, he is so ahead of the game."

Boizot saw the kid in Tskitishvili when they entered the ESPN Zone.

Tskitishvili was ecstatic to see all the video games. He and his newfound friends played basketball, football and boxing games. Employees began to recognize him, giving him complimentary game passes and taking pictures.

"He had no perspective on the fame thing," Boizot said. "He was wondering why he would get treated different than anybody else."

The next day, Boizot and his friends gave Tskitishvili his first introduction to baseball when the Colorado Rockies hosted the San Diego Padres. The crew tried to explain America's pastime to no avail. Sitting in a section near left field, Tskitishvili put his long legs in the aisle. A disgruntled usher pleaded for the youngster to put his feet in front of his seat before realizing it wasn't possible.

Tskitishvili enjoyed eating Dip-N-Dots ice cream, and the hip-hop fan appreciated the music from the loudspeakers. But it's safe to say Tskitishvili won't be at Coors Field again any time soon.

"For 25 minutes, I was waiting for them to pitch. It was boring," Tskitishvili said.

He's got next

Early next month, Tskitishvili expects his mom and 12-year-old brother, George, to obtain visas and join him in Denver. Guliko still is in shock over her eldest son being drafted. In many ways, Nikoloz is in shock, too.

But now that he is a Nugget, he wants to prove that he will live up to expectations.

"Everybody is waiting for me to be something special. Everybody is waiting for me to become a good player. I want to try really hard to become a good player," Tskitishvili said before shooting numerous jumpers after practice ended Wednesday night.

"I want to be like Gasol or Kirilenko," he said. "I am a maybe little nervous, because I really want to try to become a good player. I know I can. I do well in practice and I practice a lot. I just love practice.

"Maybe I am thinking that (I can be a star), but I can't say that. We'll just have to wait."