Nikola Jokic avoids devastating injury, will still miss time

Thank your lucky stars, the seemingly devastating knee injury Nikola Jokic suffered in Monday's loss to the Miami Heat was just a hyperextension in his left knee

BY JAKE SHAPIRO

Dec 30, 2025, 9:33 AM

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Thank your lucky stars, the seemingly devastating knee injury Nikola Jokic suffered in Monday’s loss to the Miami Heat was just a hyperextension in his left knee. He will still miss at least four weeks, but it’s a huge sigh of relief for the Nuggets, who will only miss Joker for a month and not the rest of the year.

The three-time MVP was the favorite to win that award for a fourth time at the time he went down. Going into Monday, he was averaging a 29.9-point triple-double per game while leading the NBA in both rebounding and assists.

Still unclear what the actual injury is. No info whether there is a bone bruise or ligament damage. Hyperextension just describes the action that caused the injury. It's as if a team declared a player was out with "rolled ankle" or "stubbed toe." https://t.co/BASS5hbrmu

— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) December 30, 2025

Nikola Jokic’s injury history

If the best ability is availability, Jokic has been elite at that, too. An ironman of sorts, Jokic’s last stretch missed was for a right elbow contusion and left ankle impingement, which cost him five-straight games in March. He also missed three games earlier in the year for the birth of his son. He hasn’t missed more than five games in a row since 2017, when he sat for seven due to an ankle sprain. Even in COVID-shortened seasons, Jokic has always played at least 69 games and he hasn’t skipped a game yet this year.

He’s been dealing with a wrist issue for years, and that afformoenitoned elbow issue has been on and off for a while too.

Nuggets injury bug

Cameron Johnson just went down two weeks ago with a similar knee hyperextension, causing a bone bruise. His prognosis meant a re-evaluation in four to six weeks. He joined Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun as other starters who had gone down, with each missing more than a month — Gordon with a hamstring issue and Braun with an ankle problem. Those two have a chance to return on this current seven-game road trip, which wraps up a week into the new year.

What’s next for the Nuggets

The Nuggets will play 19 games, including Wednesdays and Feb. 1, when they first meet the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder. Denver is currently in the meat of their schedule, but they only face about a half dozen playoff teams in that stretch. The trade deadline comes a few days later on Feb. 5, leaving rookie GM tandem Jonthan Wallace and Ben Tenzer little more than the 15 games to start the season to evaluate what the team may need. The Nuggets went 12-3 and ranked in the top five of both offense and defense early on.

Rookie head coach Adelman and possible All-Star Jamal Murray will have to string it together in the meantime. Adelman ascended this Nuggets offense from the moment he took over as offensive coordinator and only grew the output once being named the lead man. What creative things can he do to keep his team scoring without the league’s top offensive player?

Meanwhile, Murray is the lone healthy starter left and can really cement his case to make his first All-Star Game with what’s needed from him just to keep the team above water during the coming stretch. Murray entered Monday’s game with career highs in points, rebounds and assists per game while shooting at the best clip of his career. He ranked 16th in points, 12th in assists and had the sixth-best shooting percentage in the league at the time of Jokic’s injury.

Missed MVP?

If Jokic misses all of January, that will leave him at 63 games played this season, falling two games short of the required 65 games played to qualify for the award.

Bigger picture Nuggets thoughts

Jokic declined a big contract extension this past summer, making him a free agent after the 2026-27 NBA season. Denver can re-sign their star this summer or any time next season. The Nuggets own their first-rounder this summer — but it can not be traded until the night of the event.