Nikola Jokic's Injury Status Before Denver Nuggets-Chicago Bulls

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Svyato Rovenchuk | Last updated Mar 24, 2025 11:30 AM ET

Nikola Jokic has missed a handful of games for the Denver Nuggets over this recent stretch for the team. Initially, the optimism was that Jokic simply needed some rest. However, as the Nuggets superstar continues to be inactive for Denver's matchups, it appears to be more of a growing concern.

The silver lining for the Nuggets would be the fact that they have stayed afloat without their MVP candidate. Denver has gone 2-2 over this current stretch that the Serbian big man has been unavailable for.

Apart from Jokic, the rest of the roster has been getting healthier. The Nuggets had four of their five usual starters available for their last matchup against the red-hot Houston Rockets and a 39-point game from Jamal Murray put them into the win column, snapping the Rockets' 9-game winning streak on Sunday.

In the second part of a back-to-back, the Nuggets will now turn around and face the Chicago Bulls to open up a five-game home stand. It does not appear that Jokic will be suiting up for this game either. Nuggets reporter Katy Winge revealed that Michael Malone was not feeling optimistic about the availability of his superstar center for Monday night. However, there was a good feeling of another regard.

"Coach Malone said he doesn’t think Nikola Jokić will play tomorrow in Denver either, but he said Jokić will play at some point during the upcoming 5-game home stand.

[He] mentioned the Nuggets want to get their starting lineup time together before the playoffs."

-Katy Winge on Twitter/X

They seriously need to go into the playoffs fully healthy for them to have any shot at all making it past the first round
— Jason Mowry (@jmowry11) March 23, 2025

The good news is it does sound like Jokic will be back in the near future. The uncertainty comes from whether that will be in a couple of days or a week from now.

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

More must-reads: