As the NBA world watched and held its collective breath as Nikola Jokic fell to the floor, grabbing his knee in obvious pain, it was hard not to think about how rare it is to see Jokic on the floor, struggling to get up. It’s not to say other players are faking injuries or exaggerating contact for the benefit of a whistle, but Jokic isn’t one to flop around on the floor when he’s okay.
It was even noticeable to the opposition on Monday night, as after the game, Bam Adebayo was asked about facing Jokic and praised him for the way he competes, saying, “It’s always fun playing against him, “It’s always fun playing against him… You see the greatness… It’s competition at the end of the day… he’s one of those guys that doesn’t really flop, and I truly respect that… you hate to see guys go out.”
Bam went on to correct himself, saying that he shouldn’t use the term “flop”, and amending it to “foul bait”, but his point remained clear. He’s one of the premier defenders in the NBA, and clearly, he’s a bit frustrated by players who embellish to try and trick the referees into calling fouls.
For him to go out of his way to show respect to Jokic and actually appreciate that he competes without flopping and hunting for fouls is good to hear. It’s a fight that Nuggets fans have been fighting for years, as other MVP contenders live at the free throw line while facing significantly less contact and physicality.
Jokic’s lack of flopping made injury even scarier
In a way, the lack of flopping in Jokic’s game made his injury even scarier. He went down hard right away and was rolling on the ground, writhing in pain, holding and grabbing at his left knee. It didn’t look good at all, and knowing that Jokic isn’t one to exaggerate pain, there was major cause for concern.
He limped to the locker room under his own power like a champ, but it was easy to tell something was seriously wrong. All things considered, it’s great news that Jokic didn’t suffer any ligament damage and avoided a truly catastrophic injury.
Still, nobody ever wants to see him in that kind of pain, and it’s a shame for him to miss any time when he’s on one of the greatest runs in NBA history. Hopefully, he’ll be back and better than ever before long, and hopefully, we never have to have our hearts stopped by a painful-looking fall like that ever again.