No days off: This is why Nikola Jokic hardly ever sits out due to injury

In a day and age where “load management” has led to the NBA having to implement rules punishing teams that don’t play their stars, it’s refreshing to see a player who wants to be on the court on a night to night basis. Especially when that star is a three-time MVP of the league.

Joker breaking the NBA mold

The league is different now than it was 20 or 30 years ago. It’s more of a business than it ever was and players and teams work together to protect their bodies and their assets. There are players that are put on minutes restrictions or won’t play in back-to-back games in order to avoid injury or fatigue, but that’s not how Nikola Jokic rolls.

Jokic is an old school player who shows up to work everyday and will casually drop a triple-double on your head while barely breaking a sweat. He may not have posted a triple-double against Oklahoma City on Monday night, but he did have 35, 18 and 8 assists against the first placed team in the Western Conference.

That was the second end of a back-to-back series against the Thunder, and Jokic apparently was banged up in the first game on Sunday afternoon. He had a sore ankle and an elbow contusion heading into the game on Monday, and his coach wanted the three-time MVP to sit out the game. Jokic said “hell no.”

Jokic prefers playing than working out

Not only was it an opportunity to exact revenge on the Thunder who won the game on Sunday afternoon, but it was a chance to Jokic to go head-to-head with the other MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for a second straight game.

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While that might explain Jokic wanting to suit up, the real explanation is much more simple. The big Serbian wanted to play on Monday’s spotlight matchup against OKC because he wanted to avoid having to do a private workout with Denver’s strength and conditioning coach Felipe Eichenberger. “If I don’t play then I’m going to work out with Felipe, and that’s much harder than playing 40 minutes.”

Jokic has the Nuggets currently in second place in the West and is in the running for his fourth MVP award. He is averaging a triple double with 28.9 points, 13 rebounds and 10.5 assists, and is in the top three in the league in each of those statistical categories. If he were to win his fourth, he would draw level with LeBron and Wilt Chamberlain, while trailing Bill Russell and Michael Jordan who have five, right behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with the most all-time at six MVPs.