Per league protocols, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic did not travel with the team when they flew down to Orlando on Tuesday.
Jokic, who tested positive for COVID-19 in late June, is required to report two negative tests from Serbia, and twice more back in the United States in order to get cleared to travel with the Nuggets.
KK Partizan, a Serbian basketball club, announced that their center, Nikola Jankovic, tested positive for COVID-19 following a team event that Jokic was in attendance at.
Nuggets’ coach Mike Malone said he expected the Serbian center to be with the team for their arrival at the NBA’s bubble site. But when asked the location of Jokic, and whether or not he was on the team plane, the team declined to comment.
Malone said, “From everything I’ve heard and talked to him; he feels great, he feels fine and is excited to get back.”
Jokic, who had been critiqued for his weight in the past, transformed his body during the league’s hiatus, with reports saying he lost up to 40 pounds.
Not having Jokic for any period of time could be detrimental for the Nuggets. The All-Star center was averaging 20.2 points, 10.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game before the 2019-20 season was suspended.
Denver currently sits at third in the Western Conference standings, 1.5 games ahead of the fourth-seeded Utah Jazz, and 1.5 games back of the second-seeded Los Angeles Clippers.
The Nuggets lost their final game before the suspension of the 2019-20 season to the Dallas Mavericks, 113-97. Jokic scored 14 points, dished out eight assists and totaled 13 rebounds in the loss.
The Nuggets will have five nationally televised games during the NBA’s seeding games in Orlando, against the Miami Heat, Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers. As well as three more games against the San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trailblazers and Toronto Raptors.