Nikola Jokic missed his first game of the season on Friday night for personal reasons and his absence was noticeable, to say the least. Denver looked like a different team without their MVP, falling to a skeleton crew of the Pelicans, 101-94.
The team completely sputtered without the Joker, especially on offense. He’s obviously the most irreplaceable player in the entire league, and there is nobody who can come close to filling the void he leaves behind.
The reasons for Jokic’s absence have not been officially announced, but the prevailing rumors seem to suggest that he is away from the team for the birth of his son. This is great news for Nikola and his family, and all reports say that he and his family are all doing well.
Jokic listed as questionable on Sunday (personal reasons)
But the reports don’t do much for the Nuggets and their chances of winning their game in Memphis on Sunday. Jokic is officially listed as questionable for personal reasons. That’s the same designation he carried ahead of the game on Friday, when he was of course, ultimately ruled out.
It sounds like nobody really knows whether or not the Joker will join his teammates in Memphis or not. It’s easy to imagine a scenario where Jokic would stay in Denver with his family and wait for the Nuggets to return from the road trip. But at the same time, the Nuggets play another game in Memphis on Tuesday night before returning home.
That’s also an NBA Cup game on Tuesday night. After losing their opening game of Group Play, that’s essentially a must-win game if the Nuggets have any hope of winning the Cup this season. That may not be enough reason to rush Jokic away from his family, but otherwise, it would mean we don’t see him again until Friday.
It would seem kind of odd for him to miss one game in Memphis, but play in the other. So, if he’s making the trip at all, it will likely be on Sunday afternoon so that he can play in both games. But it’s a short trip (relatively) to Memphis, and it’s not like the Nuggets can’t make it happen if that’s what Jokic decides.
Either way, we wish all the best to Jokic and his family and hope that he enjoys this to the fullest. He’ll come back when he’s ready and he’ll surely hit the ground running. The Grizzlies are dealing with plenty of their own issues, as they’ll be without their star Ja Morant, who is dealing with a hip injury.