Denver Nuggets Lose Nikola Jokic For Up To 4 Weeks

The Denver Nuggets just lost their entire offense for a month, and the NBA lost one of its best players and most compelling MVP races.

Nikola Jokic hyperextended his left knee Monday night in Miami after teammate Spencer Jones accidentally stepped on his foot, resulting in the three-time MVP being sidelined for at least four weeks. The good news? His knee ligaments are intact, meaning no surgery and no season-ending disaster. The bad news? Denver is about to find out just how much one player can mean to a franchise, and the league will be without one of its most watchable stars. 

Jokic was averaging 29.9 points, 12.2 rebounds, and 11 assists at the end of Monday's game, basically on pace for back-to-back triple-double seasons. More importantly, he'd been carrying a Nuggets team already missing Aaron Gordon, Cameron Johnson, and Christian Braun. Denver is 13-23 over the last five seasons without Jokic in the lineup, which tells you everything about how much they depend on him.

For Denver, this couldn't come at a worse time. The Nuggets, currently sitting third in the Western Conference, are only 2.5 games ahead of Minnesota for the sixth and final guaranteed playoff seed in the West. A month of treading water without their All-NBA star could mean the difference between home-court advantage and a play-in game. Jonas Valančiūnas will get starter minutes, but asking him to replicate what Jokic does is next to impossible. With starters Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun, and Cameron Johnson also on the sidelines, it will be up to Jamal Murray to carry the team.

For the NBA itself, this news could possibly put an end to what was shaping up to be a fascinating MVP race. Players need to appear in at least 65 games to qualify for end-of-year awards. If Jokic misses 18 or more games, he's ineligible, not just for MVP, but for All-NBA teams too. That's seven consecutive years of All-NBA selections potentially ending because of a freak accident in the dying seconds before halftime.

After the Nuggets basically spent a wasted last season being frugal, they retooled their roster to give Jokic a solid supporting crew worthy of another potential championship run. Now that the championship window is temporarily slammed shut, not by poor roster construction or bad trades, but by a teammate accidentally stepping on Jokic's foot in garbage time. The NBA is more watchable when its best players are healthy, and Jokic is unquestionably one of the best. Four weeks feels like an eternity when you're watching your title hopes potentially slip away one game at a time.