Like a quarterback reading the defensive coverage before the snap, Nikola Jokic barked orders to his teammates. He called out what he saw as the 76ers positioned themselves, signaling with his hands how he expected them to move.
Except that he wasn’t preparing to inbound the ball or defend a screen. He was dressed in a gray sweatsuit in the corner of the gym. He had spent most of the last three hours clapping stoically from the end of the Nuggets’ bench. But this was urgent enough for him to stray a few extra steps from his seat, ever so briefly onto the court.
They were five seconds away from a season-defining win in Philadelphia, with the entire starting lineup out. They were also in peril of their hard work going to waste. A one-point margin hinged on Philly’s final inbound play, drawn up during a timeout by veteran coach Nick Nurse. Jokic relayed his message after the huddle had broken, when he could see the full picture, the placement of all the pieces.
“He said that it was gonna be (Tyrese) Maxey with a ‘banana cut’ toward the ball to get the ball, and for him to try to win the game,” Peyton Watson told The Denver Post. “And that’s literally exactly what happened.”
Denver defended it successfully, at least enough to prevent Maxey from having enough time to get all the way downhill for a layup. He had to settle for an off-balance floater, which rimmed out as time expired. The Nuggets had pulled off the most improbable of their six wins without Jokic.
Without him in the lineup, anyway.
From left, Denver Nuggets players Bruce Brown, Jalen Pickett, Peyton Watson and Zeke Nnaji celebrate after defeating the 76ers in overtime Monday in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
The superstar center has assumed the responsibilities of a volunteer assistant coach this month while recovering from a bone bruise in his left knee. Those who watch Denver’s sideline carefully can often spot him pulling young players aside for individual advice or shouting out directions on how to defend an opponent’s set plays.
“It’s like as soon as a formation comes out on the court for an ATO, after a timeout, he’ll stand up and start yelling exactly what they’re gonna do,” Hunter Tyson told The Post.
“And they come out and run it,” Jalen Pickett said, shaking his head, “and I don’t believe it.”
Jokic suffered the injury during the second chapter of a grueling seven-game Eastern Conference road trip. Confronted by the longest absence of his NBA career, he traveled with the team for the last five games, rather than returning home alone. By sticking around, the 30-year-old was able to begin his rehab process with Denver’s training staff while also mentoring his young teammates in huddles and film sessions.
“I think for the young guys, the guys that haven’t played as much, to have a three-time MVP pull you aside and give you confidence, talk to you about what you can do better in this situation (is valuable). … Especially Nikola, who has memorized this league’s playbook,” coach David Adelman said. “It’s absolutely insane. So leadership comes from a million places. Your veteran players are so important. … All these guys that have been through it, and I always say this, not just the successes they’ve had but the failures, too. They’ve been through it, and they can have a commentary that sometimes a coach can’t have with a player.”
Injured Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) looks on from the bench in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
That commentary has been different with each individual. Last Friday, during a home game against Atlanta, he gave DaRon Holmes II a one-on-one tutorial on how to maximize the effectiveness of his screens by setting them at the proper angles. Holmes played his first NBA rotation minutes only two weeks ago, receiving a temporary promotion by necessity with Jokic and backup center Jonas Valanciunas injured.
“He’ll help me out with my (player development) workouts with the little things that will translate to the game,” Holmes said. “My DHOs, stuff like that, making sure I screen the right way. Those little things matter for winning. … Jokic is probably one of the greatest of all time, so it’s pretty cool to have him there. Even when he’s not playing, just to hear his voice is insane.”
“That would be a person I’d listen to,” Adelman said, “if I was DaRon.”
For two-way forward Spencer Jones, the individual dialogue has been about how to release from a screen in response to how it’s guarded — what space to occupy next, basically. The Nuggets’ offense under Adelman has always been dependent on off-ball movement and all five players being able to screen, read and react. Jones has been treated as a lesser offensive threat than his teammates in many cases, whether he’s in a pick-and-roll or freeing up a shooter on the weak side of the floor.
“A lot it for me is when to pop on a screen, when to slip out of a screen, when setting it for Jamal (Murray), Tim (Hardaway Jr.), guys like that,” Jones told The Post. “It opens up a shot for me, or it opens up a shot for one of them. He always tells me it depends on who’s guarding me. If you’ve got a five-man who’s in a drop, you’re gonna want to pop (to the 3-point line). Because then Jamal can get downhill. That’s who they typically double, and it’s a wide-open three.
“If it’s coming off a pin-down and it’s Tim or anything like that, probably slip out of it quick, because it’s gonna be hard to set a really good screen if they’re chasing right behind him. But if you slip, it could be an easy layup for you.”
None of this is totally new to Jokic’s leadership style, his teammates and coaches attest. His intellect has already been the basis of Denver’s success for years. But its importance is inflated, its exposure heightened, by the fact that he isn’t able to pull the puppet strings himself. Usually, he’s using his energy to post up opposing centers or direct traffic from the middle of the floor. The ball is in his hands. His primary form of in-game communication is intuition, not the spoken word.
“I feel like a lot of times, he doesn’t get to talk as much and coach as much because he’s out there really playing hard and is exhausted,” Watson said. “So it’s hard to talk so much. But I think now that he has obviously this injury and he’s been sidelined for a little bit, it’s allowing him to communicate the things he sees more.”
Denver Nuggets guard Peyton Watson (8) drives around New Orleans Pelicans guard Jeremiah Fears (0) in the first half of Tuesday in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
An outwardly vocal Jokic has been a defining characteristic of Adelman’s tenure so far. It started last April in Sacramento, when Michael Malone lost his job and Adelman took over a ship in danger of sinking with three games left in the regular season. In that first game, Jokic was seen commandeering the whiteboard to draw up a play in a timeout. Adelman welcomed the passion from his star player. It was his team, the interim coach asserted at the time.
“I think behind closed doors for a long time, it’s always been there,” Adelman added on Sunday. “In film sessions, always had a strong opinion about game plans. I think you’re just seeing it more in public, things we’ve already seen.”
“He’s a lot more vocal than people think. … The camera only catches about half of it,” Jones said. “But he’s individually going to guys, telling us how to get our offense going, especially with a lot of teams throwing different coverages, either blitzing Jamal or switching everything. He gives us great tips. … Then when he’ll take over a timeout, DA lets him. Obviously, we all trust him because how cerebral the guy is.”
The center’s knack for seeing the future isn’t new, either. Jokic memorably left the Timberwolves’ locker room dumbfounded last season when he yelled out one of their ATO play calls. Rudy Gobert and Anthony Edwards started hatching conspiracy theories of espionage after the game. The Nuggets, meanwhile, were used to it.
“I don’t know how,” Tyson said, laughing. “I couldn’t do it.”
He’s not doing anything especially different this month. He’s just wearing a hoodie and sweats or a tailored suit instead of a jersey. The outfits of a coach.
Coach Jokic has helped the Nuggets secure at least one win so far.
“He’s a basketball genius,” Tyson continued. “So any time we can get insight from him, everybody is going to listen. No matter what he says.”