BREAKING NEWS: Denver Nuggets MVP Nikola Jokić Invests $7.5 Million to Transform House Into Shelter for Homeless Youth in……
Nikola Jokić should demand a trade. The reigning MVP has every right to want out of this Mile High mess.
On Tuesday, the Kroenke family, which owns the Denver Nuggets, executed a panic move without historical precedent by firing Michael Malone three games before the postseason. No team has ever fired a winning coach this late in the season. But that’s only half of it. The team also relieved general manager Calvin Booth of his duties as the top basketball decision-maker, indicating that it doesn’t believe in either leading voice to run the show. Cleaning house in April, days before the playoffs? In a league of chaos, this is beyond the pale.
Imagine if this happened on a team with LeBron James. Or Stephen Curry. Or Kevin Durant. With any other all-time great, we’d be asking the question: How in the world can he be OK with all this?
But with Jokić — who has famously shied away from publicly or privately throwing around his enormous political weight — we skip over that part of the news cycle. We assume that he’ll be fine with it all.
Frankly, it’s an insult to Jokić. The Serbian has been cheated out of multiple championship runs by the Denver Nuggets. By his own admission, Jokić is at the peak of his powers, averaging 30 points, 12.8 rebounds, 10.2 assists this season. Three-time MVP, first-time triple-double average. The 10-year vet has been a contender with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the MVP race this season, but his best argument for the hardware is buttressed by how terrible his supporting cast is. When SGA has been off the floor, the Thunder have outscored opponents by 75 points across 1,199 minutes. When Jokić has been off the floor? The Nuggets have lost by a whopping 252 points in 1,366 minutes.
When it comes to quantifying his supporting cast, that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
I don’t think people quite understand how bad the supporting cast has been around Jokić in Denver for his entire career.
I’ll put it another way. Do you know how many of Jokić’s teammates have made an All-Star team while playing next to him? I’m not talking about Paul Millsap earning four All-Stars with Atlanta before joining the Nuggets on the downside of his career. I’m talking about All-Stars in a Nuggets jersey since Jokić joined the league in 2015-16. Want to take a guess?
The answer is zero. Jokić has never played with an All-Star teammate in his seven trips to the All-Star game or in any of his 10 years in the league for that matter.
