Through just about a fourth of this NBA season, Nikola Jokic has had another remarkable MVP-caliber campaign. The reigning MVP has been absolutely dominant from start to finish, perhaps better than ever. You could not say the same for his middling (and weirdly disjointed) Denver Nuggets, who have lost seven of their last 11 games at the time of this writing.
After the Nuggets fell to the league-worst Washington Wizards on Saturday night — in a game where Jokic put on a masterclass with 56 points, 16 rebounds, and eight assists — the big man was clearly tired of everyone else’s lackadaisical efforts.
When asked about what he wants to see from his Denver teammates after the embarrassing Wizards loss, Jokic, in a very Serbian way, suggested that the other Nuggets get pay cuts for not doing their jobs properly. He expanded on that by saying that perhaps a benching or two for underperforming Nuggets players would also have an effective message moving forward.
Hoo boy. It’s not often that Jokic is this direct and openly frustrated.
How can you blame him?
Nikola Jokic on what Nuggets need to see next few games: “A reaction. In my country, where I’m coming from, after this kind of stretch you’re gonna get a paycheck that is a little bit less than you are worth. So maybe that’s what we need to do. Maybe a little motivation that way”
— Bennett Durando (@BennettDurando) December 8, 2024
(He was laughing as he started to say that.) Then added, “What’s the name of it? Being benched? Being on the bench, I think that’s really good motivation too.”
— Bennett Durando (@BennettDurando) December 8, 2024
And here’s a video of Jokic’s biting comments:
https://twitter.com/katywinge/status/1865804397348790586
It’s not hard to see why Jokic would finally be this critical of the other Nuggets. At times this season, it has felt like Jokic has had to defeat other teams by himself, at least on a production basis. Denver is literally the NBA’s best team when he’s on the floor on a statistical basis, and it’s the worst team, by far, when he’s off. Jokic is so great that he can elevate the Nuggets to wins by himself sometimes, but that’s not sustainable. He can’t do it every night.
Denver’s problems also all seem to stack on top of each other.
After signing a max contract, Jamal Murray has not pulled his weight. At all. Despite a push to be more versatile, Michael Porter Jr. still looks like a one-dimensional scoring forward. Thanks to general manager Calvin Booth, the Denver bench, for the umpteenth straight year, is a disaster. Part of that blame also lies on head coach Michael Malone, who hasn’t figured out an adequate non-Jokic lineup in a long time, but there’s only so much a coach can do when they only have 7-8 viable every-night rotation players.
What’s even worse is it’s not readily apparent that these Nuggets like playing with each other anymore. They look like a team with internal tension in the organization that is letting that bleed over to the court. Jokic aside, they have been making the same careless mistakes on both ends of the floor for six weeks now.
That is no longer an anomaly. It is a trend. It just might be who these Nuggets are. They look like a team ready for a big change in the form of a shake-up trade or someone getting fired. Or both.
It’s not Jokic’s style to call everyone out like this. In fact, while completely justified, I’d be shocked if he ever even demanded a trade out of Denver. He’d sooner retire after his current contract expires before ever making a scene. Rocking the boat is just not who he is.
So, it speaks volumes that Jokic is now deciding to speak out because he’s breaking character. He’s fed up because he wants to win, and he wants more help doing so. The other Nuggets — players, coaches, and front office included — had better start listening.
