Nuggets coach Michael Malone might find recent criticism of center Nikola Jokic laughable if he didn’t find it so far off-base.
ESPN basketball analyst Kendrick Perkins recently accused Jokic of “stat padding.”
“Maybe they’re just tired of this player — a non-athletic player from Sombor, Serbia — who continues to kick everybody’s (behind),” Malone said Thursday after Nuggets practice. “Maybe people have a hard time with that. I don’t know. He’s not doing anything to pump his own numbers up. Itap just not in his nature. Itap silly to think otherwise.”
Entering Friday night’s game against Memphis at Ball Arena, Jokic was averaging 24.6 points, 11.7 rebounds and 10.0 assists per game and shooting a career-best 63.3% from the field. He recorded the 100th triple-double of his career Tuesday in the Nuggets’ 133-112 victory at Houston. Denver is 24-0 this season when Jokic records a triple-double.
“When you’re stat padding, itap easy, you know,” Jokic said sarcastically in a video after the win at Houston.
“Nikola doesn’t do anything to stat pad,” Malone said. “Nikola’s the central hub in everything we do on the offensive end of the floor. Just because he’s that skilled to be a 10-assist-per-game center, don’t hold that against him. He’s going to make the right play.
“If people want to construe that as stat-padding, well, I hope he continues to do it. Because when he gets triple-doubles we win. Itap not an empty stat.”
On Thursday, Jokic was named Western Conference Player of the Month after also winning the award in January. He’s favored to win his third consecutive MVP award.
The Nuggets (44-19) entered Friday’s game with the best record in the Western Conference, with the Grizzlies (38-23) in second place. The two teams split the first two games of the series, with each team winning on its home court.
The Nuggets entered the game having won seven of their last 10 games.
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