The Denver Nuggets saw their superstar center Nikola Jokic go down with a non-contact left knee injury this week.
Thankfully, the news wasn't as bad as it could've been. He didn't tear his ACL.
The injury for Jokic was instead a hyperextension of his left knee.
The expectation was that Jokic would miss a month.
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He's already gotten a positive injury update on New Year's Eve, though.
Jokic showed up to the Nuggets' game without crutches.
A respected Twitter doctor says that's good news:
This is VERY positive to see him not using crutches. Means the bone bruising isn’t severe enough to need full off loading. 👍👍 https://t.co/GPr2i2F943
— Brian Sutterer MD (@BrianSuttererMD) January 1, 2026
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At the very least, this seems to suggest Jokic won't be out longer than anticipated.
He's in the midst of the best season of his storied career. Maybe he won't get the full slate of games that he usually has, but on a per-game basis, Jokic continues to grow his own legend.
This is a chance for Jokic to see the game from the side a bit.
When he gets back, it's safe to expect he'll be as good as he ever has been.
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