To help bring his Denver Nuggets to a sharp 7-3 record, Jokic is averaging an astonishing 29.7 points, 13.7 rebounds, 11.7 assists, 1.7 steals, and one block per game while also enjoying an efficient true shooting percentage of 67.1. For perspective, he’s averaging a near-30-point triple-double and sits fourth in the league in scoring while leading the entire NBA in rebounds and assists. If that weren’t enough, the Serbian big man is fourth in the league in 3-point shooting percentage (56.4) on a moderately high volume of four attempts per game. Phew.
For all intents and purposes, after a regular-season MVP or NBA Finals MVP in each of his last four seasons, Jokic has been transcendent through 10 games, even by his already high standards. He is the clear best player in the world — there is no “arguably” — and the gap between him and the No. 2 player (whoever that might be) seems wider than ever.
But if you ask Denver head coach Michael Malone, Jokic’s play so far this season apparently hasn’t been that impressive. After Jokic dropped 37 points, 18 rebounds, and 15 assists on the Dallas Mavericks in a thrilling Sunday night win, Malone said he hoped Jokic would “probably be fifth in MVP voting.”
Wait, what? Oh, Malone was joking, and it’s easy to see why:
Malone on Jokic’s 37-18-15; “what’s Jokic fifth in MVP voting now? So he’s gotta do more for us.” pic.twitter.com/4yh9mMc8RM
Malone will never confirm it himself, but there’s a decent chance he saw an absurd NBA MVP ladder that put the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis and the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum over Jokic in this year’s early MVP conversation last week. While those two stars have also been awesome, given how utterly incredible Jokic has been for a Nuggets team that has needed him to play this well just to have a chance to win, lists like that reek of “voter fatigue,” a.k.a. people being tired of Jokic winning the league’s most prestigious individual honor in the regular season. Again.
And it’s not hard to see why Malone likely thinks that that sentiment is ridiculous, as he watches his superstar player put his team on his back every single night:
AD leads the way in the first @KIA MVP Ladder of the season 👀
It’s still so early, and anything can happen in an arduous 82-game season. More importantly, Jokic is also past the point of caring about chasing regular-season MVPs. He and the Nuggets are trying to win championships first and foremost, meaning they will likely have him turn off the jets the closer we get to the postseason so he can conserve his energy for a hopeful (and long) NBA title run. Jokic’s Nuggets have bigger fish to fry these days.
But I’m gonna tell you this right now and remember it well. Davis is having a great season. So is Tatum. So is the Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant. They are still nowhere near the same stratosphere as Jokic right now. It’s not even close. No one impacts or controls a game more, and he somehow took another massive step forward. And if the all-time center actually does average even, say, an impeccably efficient 25-point triple-double throughout the entire season for a contending Nuggets team, he will be taking home a fourth NBA MVP award.
Full stop. Voter fatigue about Jokic be damned.
The esteemed honor would lose a ton of credibility if anyone else got it in that scenario.
As the Nuggets see it, the now-eldest player in their regular rotation could catalyze them to glory once more in simultaneous pursuit of his first-ever elusive championship ring. Westbrook could be their new Bruce Brown, the backup, relentlessly competitive guard who brought endless intensity en route to Denver’s 2023 title.
Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images
“This time of year, everybody’s gonna say they wanna win a championship,” Westbrook said in the preseason. “But it’s not live or die, to be honest. …
“As long as we, as a team, put our best foot forward, we can live with the results. If that’s a championship, then I’m grateful for that. If not, I’m also grateful for the opportunity.”
With Westbrook around, the Nuggets’ title window might stay wide open. But not indefinitely.
“It’s going to be incredibly hard to win another one,” Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth said. “You don’t know when this window will be over, so you have to take advantage of it.”
Nikola Jokic and Westbrook prove opposites attract
Despite their opposite play styles, Jokic and Westbrook hope to create fireworks together.
Since his days with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Westbrook excels most when he moves like a freight train, gaining steam on a railroad. He personifies controlled chaos, an engine of perpetual and passionate energy. And he never stops.
Jokic, on the other hand, embodies eccentric creativity. He is a cerebral conductor who has his fingertips all over a game by pulling the strings when they present themselves. Compared to Westbrook, Jokic’s stoic face after a monster scoring move in the post or a rare turnover on a poor pass are indistinguishable.
“It’s gonna be a great year figuring out ways to make the game easier for [Jokic] because he does it for everybody else,” Westbrook said.
Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
When it comes to Jokic, Westbrook has never had this skilled of a center. Jokic has never had an explosive guard who gets to the rim at will quite like Westbrook. And Jokic understands better than anyone that the Nuggets have to give Westbrook free rein to be himself.
In other words, they have to let Russ be… Russ.
“[Westbrook] has to play how he’s comfortable,” Jokic explained early in the Nuggets’ preseason. “He has to be himself because that’s when he’s at his best, and that’s what we need.”
This is all an ideal. While optimistic about his fit, the Nuggets understand Westbrook’s history and the potential downsides of adding him to their current mix. Westbrook’s contract structure — a two-year veteran minimum deal with a 2025 player option – suggests they’re somewhat hedging their bet on him.
Still, the Nuggets won’t limit Westbrook’s identity. With his skills, you dive headfirst into the water or not at all.
Westbrook maintains head coach Michael Malone is already letting him use “his speed” instead of forcing him to be something he’s not, like when Westbrook was allowed to consistently run at top speed during Denver’s five-game preseason. He got to the rim as he pleased, and while it wasn’t always pretty, as he smoked some open layups, his occasionally wild approach was accepted because he still set the table for the Nuggets’ other key reserves in a quality fashion.
In this way, Westbrook presents a new reality for the Jokic-era Nuggets. They are famous for playing at a slow, methodical pace, always hunting for good shots, no matter how long it takes. Per RealGM, Denver was 27th in the NBA in offensive pace last year. It’s a small preseason sample size, but Denver was fourth in offensive pace this October, with Westbrook pushing the ball at the forefront of that charge.
Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images
While this speedy approach hasn’t proved to be entirely fruitful yet, and it may take time to really come together, it could be a well-worn wrinkle that makes the Nuggets less predictable and harder to defend.
As the newcomer, it’s up to Westbrook to show enough curiosity to build chemistry with his new teammates, too.
At Nuggets media day, Westbrook said he’d go out of his way to break bread with guys on the road and foster new relationships. You see it when Westbrook trades friendly barbs at practice with promising third-year forward Peyton Watson, a Southern California native who grew up idolizing him. You also see it when Westbrook takes rookie point guard Trey Alexander by his side while talking to the media to help him become a better public speaker.
It seems like Westbrook is genuinely interested in building with Jokic, respecting his talent while appreciating that the Nuggets are the reigning MVP’s team.
“To be on the floor with [Jokic] is an honor, and I’m grateful for that,” Westbrook said. “He does so many different things on the floor that allow people to be great.”
How Russell Westbrook is Jamal Murray’s steward
The main reason that Westbrook now calls Denver home is one of the NBA’s worst-kept secrets.
“It’s my job to push [Jamal Murray] every night to be the best that he can be,” Westbrook said. “He’s an unbelievable player, and he still has so much room to get better in a lot of areas. I’m grateful to be able to be here and help him along that journey.”
The Nuggets likely won’t win another title with Jokic if Murray doesn’t play at his ceiling. They certainly wouldn’t have won in 2023 without his electric 20-game run. None of their other roster questions matter as much as Murray pulling his weight.
Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
Even after a rough 2024 postseason, the Nuggets seem to believe Murray will turn the corner. They wouldn’t have given him $200 million if they didn’t.
That’s why the professional Westbrook is their Murray insurance policy. Murray has already noticed Westbrook’s luminary presence.
“I grew up watching [Westbrook],” Murray said. “To look at Russ is like, ‘Oh, damn… that’s Russ.’ Every time he’s in the gym, he lifts not just me but everybody’s spirit and awareness.”
For some, having a chaperone would be an annoyance. They’d lash out with insecurity. But when Westbrook declares he’ll push Murray while later miming his trademark “blue arrow” celebration during a photo shoot, it’s clear he’s there to be his confidant, too.
That’s why Murray doesn’t appear bothered by Westbrook. He understands his presence is to his benefit.
“Russ brings his own energy whether you’re with him or not,” Murray mused. “That’s the best part… he goes, works and tries to lead by example.”
Russell Westbrook gives the Nuggets the ultimate motivation
Jokic’s Nuggets have never been exuberant. The Western Conference’s winningest team over the last half-decade is notorious for carrying itself with quiet confidence.
But this sort of approach can lend itself to complacency. That’s where Westbrook’s persistence comes in.
Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
Malone has expressed as much about his veteran sixth man. At every step, Malone has praised Westbrook’s effect on the rest of his players before musing about that cliché but valuable “win it for the veteran” motivation.
“The only thing that [Westbrook] hasn’t accomplished is winning an NBA championship,” Malone said. “That’s the only thing missing from a very impressive resume.”
Westbrook’s impact is evident among Denver’s core players, too.
It starts with Murray, who asserts that Westbrook’s “relentless energy” inspires him. It continues with sharpshooter Michael Porter Jr., who is struck by Westbrook acting like “he’s the youngest guy on the court.” It’s glaring when ascending bench scorer Julian Strawther insists he has been attached to Westbrook’s hip since the moment he signed with the Nuggets in the summer.
But no one summed up Westbrook’s impact on a Nuggets team back on the hunt for another title better than stalwart Aaron Gordon, Denver’s emotional backbone.
If Gordon says winning for legendary teammates like Westbrook (and Jokic) is what now inspires him more than anything as a basketball player, it’s safe to say the rest of the Nuggets feel the same way.
“Nikola Jokic will probably finish his career as one of the greatest ever to play basketball,” Gordon said. “That’s why I push myself and work relentlessly to elevate his time in the NBA. It’s the same with Russell. He’ll also be a Hall of Famer. I’m doing everything I can to try and get him a ring.”
Russell Westbrook is getting the Nuggets to come out of their shell.
In some ways, adding Russell Westbrook to your NBA team these days makes you the equivalent of the Tobias Funke “Did it work for those people?” meme. But the Denver Nuggets, in pursuit of their second title in three years, are convinced that Westbrook — especially his competitive demeanor — might just be exactly what they ordered to get them out of a period of quiet stagnancy.
On Monday, with the Nuggets’ season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder looming on Thursday night, Denver head coach Michael Malone said that Westbrook has been relentlessly competitive in practices against the other Nuggets.
Apparently, Westbrook’s actually even been getting under the skin of the notoriously quiet Nuggets, as his “[expletive] talking” approach has even been contagious.
(Warning: NSFW language in the tweet and video below.)
Michael Malone on Russell Westbrook in practice:
“When you’re talking shit, getting under other people’s skin, and that becomes contagious – he was so excited today when other guys started getting into it.
On-court fit aside, approaching games the way Westbrook does is something the Nuggets probably really need to get out of their perceived rut. Nikola Jokic’s gang has never been one to wear its heart on its sleeve. That comes in handy from a measured, even-keeled perspective, but it probably has its drawbacks when everyone is dreading a long road trip in the dead of winter.
Westbrook’s injection of energy and fire already appears to be a welcome addition to Denver’s mix.
Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets both owe each other so much.
There are few tasks harder in sports than repeating as NBA champions.
After playing 100 games en route to a title, you must grind through the regular season while wearing a giant bullseye on your back. There’s a reason the last five NBA champions have all failed to advance past the second round in the ensuing season. There’s only so much all-time greats like Nikola Jokic can do.
As the Denver Nuggets learned during Sunday night’s painful Game 7 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, it’s much harder to be hunted, getting every opposing team’s absolute best every night for over half a year, rather than being the hunter.
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) May 20, 2024
In the coming days, much ink will be spilled about where the Nuggets fell short in their hallowed repeat pursuit:
Was Denver focused enough in a regular season that can feel like a drag when you’ve already climbed to the top of the mountain?
Is Jamal Murray’s approach to slowly conditioning himself throughout the season part of his now troubling injury issues, or is he just prone to being hurt?
Did Michael Malone push all the right buttons (or push them too much?) for a team that looked like it flat-out ran out of gas in the biggest moment of its season?
Is a surprising change coming, like a trade of the mercurial Michael Porter Jr. in the name of adding a glut of rotational players?
These are fair questions to consider. The Nuggets will need concrete answers to all of them if they want to add another Larry O’Brien Trophy or two to their collection during the Jokic era.
Above all, managing Jokic’s workload during the regular season will determine whether this Denver organization has more happy moments in mid-June in the coming years. It’s no secret that these Nuggets were built around Jokic’s unique abilities. Effectively, every Denver starter, even Murray, is a tool for the three-time MVP center. Aaron Gordon is his hammer. Porter is his sharpshooter. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope maintains the point of attack on defense and spaces the floor. Jokic’s two-man game with Murray opens up the paint and, by extension, the entire Nuggets offense.
It stands to reason that if Jokic doesn’t have his fastball, the Nuggets are without a paddle. It doesn’t matter how good or bad his supporting cast is if he’s fatigued. None of the Nuggets’ championship-caliber identity is feasible if Jokic isn’t firing on all cylinders—which is exactly what happened while he played an exhaustive 47 minutes in Denver’s Game 7 defeat.
In the end, the better and deeper team simply wore the best player in the league down:
"I'm not an excuse maker. The better team won… They [Nuggets] gave me everything I could ever ask for… As much as this hurts, I will walk out of this building tonight with my head held very high."
But this is a vicious feedback loop when considering what the Nuggets asked Jokic to do in the wake of their first championship. The Serbian big man took a career-high 1,411 shots in the regular season — nearly 400 more than during the glorious 2023 title campaign. He had 976 rebounds — roughly 200 more than in 2023. He took on more defensive responsibility and was also asked to carry a team with thin depth and an overly green bench filled with young players and veteran fill-ins.
Jokic’s numbers this season are, in fact, most comparable to his 2021-2022 campaign, when he had neither Jamal Murray nor Michael Porter Jr. for most of the year. That speaks volumes.
So it’s no wonder Jokic had his worst true shooting percentage (65 percent) in three seasons. Watching him tap into his highest form on only a handful of occasions during Denver’s playoff run wasn’t shocking. That was all he had in the tank. Jokic burned the jets carrying the shorthanded Nuggets all season, lifting them to 57 wins and the West’s No. 2 seed.
It ended up costing them when it mattered most.
Whatever happens next, the Nuggets must prioritize keeping Jokic fresh so he has something left in the spring.
Maybe that happens in the form of a growing young bench. Christian Braun, Peyton Watson, and Julian Strawther have each shown promise intermittently but must take considerable leaps moving forward to give Denver a viable extended rotation. Maybe Malone learns from this season, understanding that he can’t push his team to the limit for six months and then expect their top performance in the most important games. Maybe it happens in the form of another Porter offensive leap. The 6-foot-10 big man cannot continue being a one-trick pony jump-shooter at his massive contract price, or a trade that refills the roster cupboard starts to seem more feasible. Maybe it just happens with Murray, who ideally comes into the next regular season in tip-top shape, ready to finally play like an All-Star teammate every single night.
Having someone who can shoulder more of the Nuggets’ burden would be the biggest blessing for a player of Jokic’s mold.
Jamal Murray:
“It’s back to being the hunter. It’s back to fighting for something with a different type of edge…” pic.twitter.com/z1d095joFi
In October, Nuggets general manager Calvin Booth admitted that this Denver season might be more of a gap year. Considering its rampant depth issues and decisions to lean on youth because of the tricky CBA rules, Denver was OK falling short if it meant the franchise would have a longer championship window with Jokic in its building. It was OK with a failure to repeat if it meant this year helped foster a dynasty in the mold of Tim Duncan’s San Antonio Spurs, a.k.a. three titles in six years, four titles in eight years, you get the idea. Only time will tell whether this was the correct decision.
The Nuggets’ championship window with Nikola Jokic is far from closed. We’re about to find out how they really maximize it.
The cantankerous Denver Nuggets coach was asked how hard it was to absorb a Game 7 loss in which the defending champs were up by 20 to the Minnesota Timberwolves, a seemingly innocuous query.
Malone took a second and responded, “Next question” before launching into the season being over.
“[Expletive] being up 20,” he added. “The season’s over.”
Next, he mumbled this: “Stupid-[butt] questions.”
I disagree. It’s not a bad question, and Malone may have just been really mad in general. No need to be mad at the reporter here.
Here’s the video with a WARNING: NSFW language ahead!
this is the biggest loser response I have ever seen from a coach.
Mike Malone went on a “ I told you so” tour all last year (which he deserved) But now asking how your team blew a 20 point lead in a game 7 at home is a dumb question???
Charles Barkley has a bone to pick with Michael Malone.
The Denver Nuggets looked completely dead in the water just over a week ago. An embarrassing Game 2 beatdown at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves had folks like Charles Barkley proclaiming Denver would get swept.
Well, heading into Tuesday night’s pivotal Game 5, the series is now tied at 2-2 after Denver took both road games in Minneapolis. And it sure seems like a diss track that Nuggets head coach Michael Malone pieced together really resonated with his team. Any time you feature prominent NBA media personalities doubting your players in public, it’s bound to strike a chord.
Upon realizing that Malone might have actually featured Barkley in said video, the TNT analyst was not happy that his own words and opinion were potentially put on blast by the Nuggets:
“Dude, we get paid to give an opinion. If you watched those first two games, you didn’t think Denver was going to win.”
He, like other TV analysts, mostly diagnoses what information he has. If he’s on the postgame show of a matchup featuring a blowout, he’s probably going to reasonably hedge toward the team that won by many points. And vice versa. He can only operate in the context of the actual games. That doesn’t mean he has to have the strongest possible take or opinion rooted in emotion and the heat of the moment.
But that is, ultimately, what he’s paid to do — give an opinion.
That said, I’m not sure why Barkley seemed so annoyed by this Nuggets diss track possibility. He’s one of the most famous figures in basketball media, period. Everyone’s been taking clips of things he said — right and wrong — for years. What makes Denver using a motivational clip he’ll likely never see any different from all of his other opinions having the spotlight on them?
It’s honestly a fascinating conversation about the nature of sports television, but it’s still not that big of a deal.
After a dominating 117-90 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night, head coach Michael Malone revealed he had pieced together an edited video of every major media personality counting the Nuggets out. Seemingly everyone who stuck a fork in them after losing the first two games of their second-round series at home was involved. (I’d imagine a certain MVP moment with Nikola Jokic might have played a role, too.)
Malone didn’t personally send the video to his team; he had backup center DeAndre Jordan do it, who relayed the unofficial diss track to the rest of the Nuggets in a team group text.
The Nuggets — spurred by Jokic and a fiery Jamal Murray — obviously responded quite well to the video. We now have a real series again, folks:
"I had an edit made… of every talking head in this country saying that the series is over, the Nuggets are done, it's a wrap. … If that doesn’t resonate within you as a competitor I don’t know what will.”
What a stroke of genius. It’s not often you see head coaches start beefs with their own team, let alone make diss tracks of them. Truly flipping coaching tactics on their head.
In all seriousness, the Nuggets clearly needed a little jolt, a little “you still belong here,” a little “remember who you are,” a little “no one respects you right now.” Making an unofficial diss track of everyone on TV doubting them led to arguably the most complete wire-to-wire performance of the defending champions’ season.
Jamal Murray and Michael Malone have a special bond.
There were real questions about whether Jamal Murray would even play during Monday night’s Game 5 against the Los Angeles Lakers, let alone be effective. Murray answered the bell on a hurt calf with a clutch performance that included a vicious dunk on LeBron James and another game-winner, helping the reigning NBA champion Denver Nuggets advance to the second round of the playoffs.
Behind the scenes, the real tug-and-pull about Murray’s health seemed to come from Nuggets head coach Michael Malone.
In his post-game press conference, Malone revealed he had an “emotional” pre-game conversation with Murray about his availability for Game 5. It was probably the kind of discussion where a head coach has to strike the balance of looking at the big picture while one of his star players wants to compete and be there for his team at all costs.
Inevitably, Malone revealed that Murray told him he was glad he played because the Nuggets probably wouldn’t have won without him. The Denver coach agreed, calling that “the understatement of the year.”
You can find the sequence starting at the :13 timestamp below, courtesy of DNVR:
Michael Malone had nothing but praise for Jamal Murray in the postgame presser. "Can't say enough good things about (him)…one tough cookie." pic.twitter.com/ny8utnL970
Here’s Malone’s thoughts on Murray’s heroics through his calf injury in full:
“For Jamal [Murray], to add to his playoff lore by having two game-winners in a series is just incredible,” Malone said. “The conversation before the game, without getting into too much detail, was an emtional one about him playing tonight. As he [Murray] just told me, he goes ‘I’m glad I played because I don’t know if we win if I don’t play tonight.’ I said, ‘Well that’s the understatement of the year,'” Malone laughed.
It’s obvious Malone and Murray have a special coach-to-player relationship, one that goes beyond the basketball court. Their bond shined through in a moment when the Nuggets needed it most.
Los Angeles traffic hit the Nuggets at the worst possible time.
Entering Saturday night, the Denver Nuggets were looking to sweep their first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers. But after shooting just 44.8 percent from the field in a 119-108 loss, it seems even their pregame routine was thrown out of rhythm.
You see, Nuggets players were forced to weirdly use their slides during their pregame warmups. No, this wasn’t some deal about saving their legs or any kind of change in strategy. What happened was that Denver’s team bus carrying the players’ shoes was actually delayed getting to the arena, forcing the Nuggets to adapt on the fly and work with what they had, per DNVR’s Harrison Wind.
In this case, all they had there was their slides, leading to what looked like an incredibly awkward pregame warmup:
Looks like the Nuggets left something behind on their way to the arena…
After the game, while he didn’t use the warmup in slides as an excuse for his team’s overall performance, Nuggets sharpshooter Michael Porter Jr. (who still dropped 27 points and 10 rebounds in the loss) admitted that not having his shoes for his usual routine did frustrate him a little because of how important that pregame process can be.
Nonetheless, he and the rest of the Nuggets are already moving forward:
The Nuggets had to either skip warmups or warmup in slides because the shoes were on the wrong bus pic.twitter.com/OTTjBYXU1g
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) April 28, 2024
The Nuggets aren’t going to the White House, but Michael Malone says it’s not for playoff seeding reasons.
The Denver Nuggets won’t be going to the White House to celebrate their 2023 NBA title, but coach Michael Malone says it’s not because they’re chasing the top seed in the Western Conference.
After a report from NBA on TNT alluded that being the reason Denver won’t travel to Washington D.C. for the annual visit with the President, Malone refuted the claim.
Per DNVR Sports’ Harrison Ward, the Nuggets coach shared that the team’s whole goal isn’t making it to the top of the playoff bracket. It sounds like Denver’s main goal will be a title, and the seeding won’t be the end-all, be-all.
Michael Malone: “Contrary to recent reports, our whole goal is not being the No. 1 seed. It’s not why we cancelled the trip to the White House. I don’t know where these things come from. If we get the 1-seed, great.”
While it’s perfectly common for a sports team to turn down a visit to the White House, Malone has shut down the idea it’s for playoff seeding reasons.
If the Nuggets win another title in the summer, perhaps they’ll make a trip to the White House then. Until a possible repeat, it’ll be all business for the Nuggets.
