Back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic has a wrist injury worth monitoring

There’s no need to panic, but there’s a situation developing with the Nuggets that is worth monitoring.

Back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic has a wrist injury that is bothering him. Jokic had it wrapped during Denver’s preseason game on Monday night against the Thunder, then wasn’t able to fully participate in practice on Wednesday. Jokic told the media on Tuesday that the wrist felt “weird” during the game against Oklahoma City.

Therefore, the Nuggets decided to be cautious today with their superstar.

Michael Malone said Nikola Jokic wasn’t a full participant in today’s practice, which featured a lot of live portions. Said his wrist was bothering him a bit and they just want to be smart with it.

— Mike Singer (@msinger) October 5, 2022

Jokic has played a ton of basketball the last two years. From the COVID bubble in Orlando, to a couple of condensed seasons, to the FIBA EuroBasket 2022 tournament this summer, it’s been a lot.

While Michael Porter Jr. played just nine games a year ago and Jamal Murray missed the whole campaign, Jokic carried Denver. He played in 74 regular season games then five addition playoff contests. The dude is just always on the court.

Now, what is this wrist injury a product of? That’s hard to tell. There wasn’t a specific play against the Thunder where Jokic appeared to hurt it. It could just be a product of wear and tear with “The Joker” playing hundreds of basketball games over the last 25 months.

For now, we’ll see what the Nuggets decide to do. It’d be wise to rest Jokic the remainder of the preseason, with him targeting a healthy return for their regular season opener on Oct. 19 at the Utah Jazz. Hopefully it just needs some time to heal.

Denver is finally healthy for the first time in a long time. They can’t afford a Jokic injury derailing their championship aspirations.

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