The Denver Nuggets know Nikola Jokic has taken a beating and they’ve voiced their concerns, according to a report from Marc Spears on ESPN.
For years teams have taken their centers off of Jokic and guarded him with power forwards with the big man roaming off Denver’s weakest shooter for help. In the last year or so that strategy has gotten more extreme with guards now matching up against the three-time MVP. This was most clear in Game 7 of Round 2 last year when Alex Caruso with the help of a lenient whistle got into Jokic’s face quite a bit.
The showing from Caruso made it obvious to the rest of the league that small players were allowed to get away with more contact on bigs than the actual centers. So all season long Jokic has faced slimmer and speedier defenders, who are getting away with a bit more than they should.
“I’m actually hearing that the Nuggets are a little concerned about how he’s being defended of late,” Spears said on ESPN. “Teams are guarding him 18 feet from the basket, leaning on his legs, fronting him, putting their arms around him, but he’s still figuring out a way to ball out.”
Marc Spears on Jokic:
"I'm actually hearing that the Nuggets are a little concerned about how he's being defended of late. Teams are guarding him 18 feet from the basket, leaning on his legs, fronting him, putting their arms around him but he's still figuring out a way to ball… pic.twitter.com/UI3CKZjDXv
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) March 23, 2026
It’s not uncommon for teams to voice concerns to the league with the officials or trends. The Thunder are said to do it more than anyone and the Lakers did it during a playoff series against the Nuggets.
Whether it helps Jokic take less of a beating remains to be seen but what was obvious was that ESPN’s in-house court jester who masquerades as a basketball analyst Kendrick Perkins used the report to call out Jokic’s weight.
“I don’t believe Jokic is in the best shape, and he’s still putting up these numbers,” Perkins said. “I believe that Jokic needs to be in better shape because remember, when Jokic was at his best, we saw him before that championship running those stairs in the offseason, seeing all the video. He looked more ripped up, he was shredded, and he was playing both sides of the basketball.”
Jokic hasn’t looked at his best since coming back from a monthlong knee injury but he’s still pacing to become the first player ever to lead the league in rebounding and assists in the same season.
“All I’m saying is everybody’s been waiting for Joker to turn this corner,” Perkins added. “And it’s like we haven’t seen it defensively.”
The Nuggets seem to have turned that corner lately, mostly because the team finally started getting healthy. They’re 7-2 in the nine games their full rotation has been available, including Sunday’s contest which was the first since Nov. 12, 2024