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Nikola Jokic’s injury could end his MVP award hopes

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated Dec 30, 2025 2:28 PM ET

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic avoided the worst-case scenario regarding his knee injury, but it may still cost him significantly.

Jokic has been diagnosed with a hyperextended knee, according to Shams Charania of ESPN. The Nuggets will re-evaluate him in four weeks, which likely means he will miss the entire month of January.

Just in: Denver Nuggets' Nikola Jokic has been diagnosed with a hyperextension in his left knee and will miss at least four weeks. An immense sigh of relief as tests show the three-time NBA MVP's knee ligaments are intact. pic.twitter.com/u8qLE0GDd3
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 30, 2025

While the injury does not appear likely to derail Denver’s season, it probably spells the end of Jokic’s MVP hopes. NBA rules state that players must play in 65 games to be eligible for end-of-season awards. As of Tuesday, Jokic has played 32 games. If he were to return on Feb. 1, he would miss the next 18 games, and could not play more than 64 games in the season.

If Nikola Jokic misses all of January, that will leave him at 63 eligible games played this season, falling two games short of the required 65 games played to qualify for his fourth MVP award — which he was the favorite to win at the time of the injury. https://t.co/PzeVyOkpg0
— Jake Shapiro, but festive (@Shapalicious) December 30, 2025

Essentially, Jokic probably has no path to winning his fourth MVP award now. That is a shame, and the rule was passed more to deal with load management and less about legitimate injuries like this, but there is nothing that can be done about it now.

Jokic suffered the knee injury Monday night. He was averaging 29.6 points, 12.2 rebounds, and 11.0 assists per game before getting hurt.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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