Nikola Jokic won the MVP last season, reaffirming that he is a top-tier superstar in the league. Even before that though, he made the Western Conference Finals during the playoffs in the Orlando bubble in 2020. There’s no question that Nikola Jokic is an offensive force that can bring a team to victory on any given night, and the way he is able to uplift his teammates and get them easy baskets is pretty amazing.
A player of Jokic’s caliber generally gives a team the chance to compete for a championship, and as evidenced by the Conference Finals appearance, they’re not that far off from being a contender. When speaking to reporters recently, Nikola Jokic himself suggested that the Denver Nuggets will be able to contend, even with a prolonged absence from his co-star, Jamal Murray. Moke Hamilton of Basketball News relayed Jokic’s words.
“Yes, of course,” he said when asked if he feels his club should be in the NBA title conversation, even without Murray. “If everybody buys in and everybody plays the right way, there is a chance, of course.”
That said, the league’s reigning MVP — at least in part — got to where he is by focusing on one task and one game at a time, and that seemed to be his message on Wednesday.
“Do we have enough talent? I don’t know,” Jokic said. “Are we the best team in the NBA? I don’t know, so we will see. The season is going to show us everything.”
There is no doubt that Jamal Murray’s absence will hurt the Denver Nuggets, as he is an electric point guard who can create shots for himself, and has shown himself as a player who elevates their play in the postseason.
However, Nikola Jokic won the MVP for a reason, and it seems as though he is ready to try and win a championship. It remains to be seen how the Denver Nuggets will fare without the Murray, though Jokic looks ready to prove his haters wrong. Even if Jokic did win the award last season, there are some people that have called him the worst MVP in the last 35 years, and it would be good to see him destroy people’s doubts about his play.
