NBA personality Nick Wright had harsh criticism for Nikola Jokic after he led the Denver Nuggets to a Game 5 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves to keep the season alive. Jokic had a strange moment towards the end of the game via pretending to give the ball to a Timberwolves player on the final possession. However, the fake out saw Jokic pulling it back and creating more tension after the game was already decided.
Wright said the following message on First Things First to call out Jokic:
“Listen, and I’m not going to kill him for this. He’s a sore loser. If games start to get away from Nikola Jokic, he does a lot of the flopping stuff that I kill other guys for, and that I do not like. When series get away from Joker, he can lose his head a little bit.
In this one, what he did with Jaden is not nearly as bad, because he couldn’t have hurt him, but he did bum rush a player. To your point, they’re lucky no one got suspended, and I’m glad they didn’t.”
Wright made it clear that he still respects Jokic and thinks he’s a great player. However, he cited both recent and past stories of Jokic losing his cool when not being able to handle losing at the highest level.
Why Nikola Jokic Is Getting More Criticism Than Ever
Jokic has been the most praised player in the NBA for most of the 2020s. Three MVP Awards and two second place finishes show how respected Jokic is around the league. Denver became a powerhouse in the Western Conference due to Jokic’s consistent dominance.
However, this season has seen Jokic getting strong criticism for the first time in years. Rudy Gobert defending Jokic better has made him less effective in this first-round series to see him getting blame for the team falling behind with a 3-1 deficit.
Jokic has also not looked as dominant since he came back from an injury in the middle of the season. This is the first time in his career that Jokic can get some fair blame for Denver not winning games. The “sore loser” tactics just make it worse when his dramatics come at the worst time.
Nikola Jokic Still Has Chance To Save Season
Denver still has a good chance to win the first round series and come back from the 3-1 disadvantage after winning Game 5. Anthony Edwards likely missing the rest of the series due to injury makes the Nuggets the strong favorite to win every game.
The road trip for Game 6 will see that as the most important game since the Timberwolves role players will have a chance to benefit from the live crowd adrenaline. Jokic must lead his team to a big victory there and take Game 7 with all the momentum at home.
A second-round showdown against the San Antonio Spurs could see Jokic erase all the recent criticism if he outplays Victor Wembanyama and wins the series with the underdog team. Jokic has done many historic things in the NBA, but a deep playoff run this year would be massive for his reputation.
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