There was a good reason for the Ball Arena crowd to cheer three minutes into Friday’s game. With a short-handed Nuggets squad enjoying an early 8-5 lead over the Hawks, Nikola Jokic walked out of the tunnel without any sign of a limp before taking a seat next to Spencer Jones at the end of Denv er’s bench. It was his first public appearance in Denver since the three-time Most Valuable Player hyperextended his left knee, resulting in a bone bruise, against the Heat on Dec. 29 in Miami. Two hours before the walk watched by many Nuggets fans, The Denver Gazette asked Nuggets coach David Adelman about Jokic’s progress and what he can do at this point. Adelman’s answer wasn’t exactly reason for more applause. “Not much,” Adelman said. “It’s day-to-day with the effort-level stuff. He lifts to see where he’s at. I think it’s more about what he feels like the next day more than what he feels like while he’s doing something, because that’s the barometer. It’s what you feel like after putting effort in, pushing his body a little bit.” Jokic did not do any work on the main court prior to Friday’s tipoff. Cam Johnson, who hyperextended his right knee and also suffered a bone bruise but no ligament damage in Dallas on Dec. 23, went through a limited shooting workout before Friday’s game. Not all hyperextensions are equal, though. The worst-case scenario for both players would’ve been a ligament tear that would have cost them the rest of the season. It’s also notable that Johnson’s injury occurred when he landed after leaping for a rebound. Jokic was hardly moving when Jones inadvertently stepped on his ankle, forcing an unnatural inversion. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) walks on the court during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Monday, Dec. 29, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky) “Part of the force that is going to be transferred through the structures in the knee also comes from the ground-reaction force. If you are running, if your momentum is carrying you forward as you hyperextend … there’s going to be more ground-reaction force to come back up, more energy to be transferred from the joint,” sports medicine doctor Brian Sutterer said in a YouTube video assessing the injury. “The fact that he’s basically stationary, to me, are all positive prognostic factors.” After the medical imaging came back clean, the Nuggets announced Jokic would be reevaluated in four weeks. That would have him reevaluated on Jan. 27. That’s where the timing gets tricky. Friday’s loss was the sixth game Jokic missed. The Nuggets are 3-3 since the injury. If he misses 11 more games, he’s ineligible for Most Valuable Player or All-NBA honors. The Nuggets have 10 games between Sunday’s game against the Bucks at Ball Arena and the Jan. 27 game against Detroit. The Nuggets coach didn’t sound like he expected Jokic to be eligible for postseason honors. “I understand the 65-game rule, but (for) a guy that never misses games for a decade, it bothers me a little bit,” Adelman said. “It’s not somebody that’s sitting out. He never sits out.” To Jokic’s credit, he’s been one of the most available superstars throughout his career. In his first 10 NBA seasons, he’s played 70 or more games nine times. The exception was the 2022-23 season when a stint in the league’s health-and-safety protocols cost him more than a week. He still played in 69 games that season. “I know he’s antsy. He’s never been hurt,” Adelman said.“The worst part is just sitting around, and that’s somebody that never misses games.” The bone bruise will go down as the more serious injury of Jokic’s NBA career to date. Sutterer anticipated Jokic would miss closer to six weeks, which would slot him ready to return on Feb. 10, but Denver’s Feb. 11 game against Memphis is the last before the All-Star break. “He might heal much faster than average and do really well and be ready to go sooner than that, but I think I would prepare for a six-week absence,” Sutterer said in a follow-up video. “My prediction would be that we see him back post All-Star break. I think that would be an average, typical, good recovery.” There’s not much typical about Jokic, whether it’s his skill or toughness. He continued to walk without any observable signs of pain when he went to encourage teammates or chat with officials during timeouts. That’s plenty of reason for Nuggets fans to cheer. “He’s anxious to get back,” Adelman said. “It’s a process for him as well.” ...read more read less