What looked like a quiet Monday for the Denver Nuggets actually carried some weight-especially when it comes to the status of their two-time MVP. It marked exactly four weeks since the team last updated Nikola Jokic’s injury timeline, when they said he’d be reevaluated in, you guessed it, four weeks.
Well, that checkpoint has come and gone, and the latest injury report for Tuesday’s game in Detroit confirms what Nuggets fans were hoping not to see: Jokic is still out. There’s been no official word of a setback, but there’s also no update on when he’ll return. The silence is starting to get a little louder.
A few weeks back, there was some optimism floating around. Shams Charania reported that Jokic was actually ahead of schedule in his recovery. But any momentum from that report was quickly tempered by Nuggets assistant coach David Adelman, who painted a more nuanced picture-one of an up-and-down recovery with good days and bad.
So here we are. Four weeks later, and the Nuggets’ franchise cornerstone remains sidelined.
There’s been no indication that things have taken a turn for the worse, but there’s also no clear sign of when he’ll be back on the floor. And that uncertainty is starting to carry some ripple effects.
Tuesday’s matchup with the Pistons will be the 15th consecutive game Jokic has missed. That puts him on track to max out at 67 games played this season-just two more than the new league minimum of 65 required for award eligibility, including MVP and All-NBA honors.
And let’s be honest: Jokic missing out on those accolades wouldn’t just sting for him-it’d be a tough pill for fans, too. These kinds of honors matter, not just for the trophy case, but for the legacy conversation down the line.
Of course, the priority is getting Jokic fully healthy. This isn’t about rushing him back to chase awards.
But it’s fair to acknowledge the frustration. He’s been playing at an elite level all season, and missing out on recognition due to a handful of missed games-especially if he’s close-would be a tough break.
There was a moment of hope when Sunday’s game in Memphis was postponed, seemingly buying Jokic and the team a little extra time. But with Tuesday’s game still a no-go for Jokic, that postponed matchup may not end up making much of a difference in the big picture. If he misses even two more games from here on out, the 65-game threshold slips away.
Right now, there’s no indication he’ll be ready for Thursday’s home game against the Nets either, so we’re in wait-and-see mode. For now, the Nuggets will continue navigating life without their anchor, while fans keep one eye on the court-and the other on the injury report.