A different approach by 30-year-old Nikola Jokic in the 2025-26 NBA Regular Season
By Johnny Askounis/ [email protected]
After posting his sixth triple-double in the 2025-26 NBA Regular Season and lifting the Denver Nuggets over the Indiana Pacers in Ball Arena on Saturday, Nikola Jokic confirmed avoiding discussions with referees and explained the reason.
“That’s my new thing this year. I’m not going to get stressed or yell at the refs or whatever,” said the 30-year-old Serbian center in a postgame press conference.
“I talked to them really respectfully, but I think it’s just that there’s no point to waste energy if they already called something,” added Jokic, rejecting a question on whether he was previously excessive, “You just try to control what you can control.”
Over nine appearances so far, Jokic has averaged 25.2 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 11.9 assists per contest, with Lithuanian reserve Jonas Valanciunas chipping in 8.9 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.
“I think the guys don’t know how good he is. I think they can see he’s really a consistent big man, and he’s not going to have too many up and downs,” Jokic described the adjustment of his new teammate.
“Definitely, he helps the second unit. Sometimes when you’re going up and down, you can just throw him the ball inside and slow down the game, and he’s such a big guy, he can screen for the guys,” he added.
Up to 7-2 following a perfect four-game homestand, the Nuggets will be on the road next week, facing the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, and the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.
“I don’t want to say it’s a rapid, but I think there is progress and there is we are getting better um in each segment that we want to get better. It’s more defensive than offensively,” mentioned Jokic on the developing team status.
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