“Like F**king Animals in a Cage”: Gilbert Arenas Questions Nikola Jokic’s Playing Style as Nuggets’ Offense Collapses in His Absence

If we make a list of teams that depend heavily on one player, the Denver Nuggets will definitely rank very high on there. Nikola Jokic has showcased one of the biggest carry jobs in the NBA in the last few years. However, that is always not a good thing.

On Gil’s Arena, host Josiah Johnson pointed out that Nuggets fans will be concerned that Jokic and Co. barely got past the Raptors, a team that hasn’t been a title contender for the past few seasons, in an overtime thriller in Toronto. Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas attributed the loss to the Nuggets’ over-reliance on the Joker.

The three-time All-Star believes that the Nuggets don’t know how to perform without the Serbian spearheading the offense and shouldering the majority of the responsibilities. In addition to being the primary scorer for his team, Jokic is also known to feed his teammates easy-look shots whenever he is double-teamed.

The three-time All-Star thinks that these kind of plays have made the Nuggets players weaker on the offensive end when their leader in not on the floor. Arenas said, “When your offense goes through him [Jokic], scoring and passing the ball, that makes sense. You know the offense is him.”

What’s surprising is that the Nuggets’ roster is full of good players. The likes of Jamal Murray, Michael Porter Jr., and Aaron Gordon, among others are all capable players. However, they have all gotten too comfortable to create their own shots out of the mud.

“These guys is you know like f**king animals in a cage. You know. They’re so used to being fed that they don’t know how to hunt you know, when he’s off the court,” Arenas added.

Since the 2020-21 season, Jokic is averaging 12.2 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game. So we can see how that makes the job easier for Denver players. Quite surprisingly, Jokic was 17th on the usage rate list last year with 29.3. So it’s not like he’s super ball dominant like some of the other guys in the league.

But as the lone superstar in Denver, the Joker is the last authority on offensive possessions.

Despite two triple-doubles and two 40-point performances so far in the season from the Serbian big man, the Nuggets are 2-2. This could easily improve if everyone does their part.

The Denver Nuggets’ ratings without Nikola Jokic are concerning

The Nuggets are one of the strongest teams in the league. They’re also title contenders in many people’s opinion, but they won’t get there by simply relying on Nikola Jokic. Since he made his debut, the Nuggets have been 18-26 in the regular season without him.

Additionally, the Nuggets have an offensive rating of 166.1 when Jokic is on the floor. In his absence, their offensive rating drops down to 66.7.

This needs to change immediately for the Nuggets to be a balanced side. Michael Malone has a job on his hands as the season progresses.