Notable update emerges about Nikola Jokic’s status

The Joker appears to be well ahead of schedule in his recovery from injury.

Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic has already resumed on-court workouts in his rehab from a recent knee injury, Shams Charania of ESPN reported Wednesday during “NBA Today.” Charania further adds that Jokic is looking to potentially return to the lineup by the end of January and is making “rapid progress.”

The three-time NBA MVP Jokic has been out since sustaining an ugly-looking hyperextension of his left knee during a game in late December against the Miami Heat (see the video here). All of Jokic’s knee ligaments ultimately stayed intact though, resulting in a best-case scenario of sorts.

At the time of his injury, Jokic was averaging a monster 30.9 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 11.4 assists per game this season. There was some talk that the hyperextension would likely cost him a chance at a fourth career MVP award.

But if Jokic (who already played 32 games this season) returns by late January, that would give him roughly 33-35 games remaining in the regular season. As such, it could just barely qualify him for the 65-game eligibility cutoff to win MVP.

Denver has impressively managed to tread water lately despite being down Jokic and several other key starters and rotation players. They have gone 5-3 ever since Jokic was injured, putting them at 27-13 (which is still good enough for third in the West). Now it appears that they may only have to survive for a couple more weeks before Big Honey comes jogging out of the tunnel again.