After missing around a month of NBA action, Nikola Jokic returned to the court on January 30th against the Los Angeles Clippers, and he looked a hundred percent like his old self. The only problem was that he didn’t play as long as he normally would, and that irked Charles Barkley.
Advertisement
The Nuggets won 122-109 against the Clippers, and Jokic scored 31 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. It was business as usual for the Joker, whose return will only bolster the Denver Nuggets’ post-season hopes. The crowd and pundits seemed to miss seeing Jokic’s greatness on display, which is why Barkley bizarrely called for David Adelman’s head for limiting the Serbian’s minutes.
Jokic‘s incredible stat line was a result of just 25 minutes of basketball action. Barkley feels — and rightly so — that he could have done a lot more. The punishment for Adelman? Fire him.
“I gotta call out coach Adelman,” Barkley said on ESPN. “He gave this guy 25 minutes; he would have had 40… We gotta get rid of coach Adelman. He holding this dude back.”
“This dude should have had 40-15-7… He can’t even get his triple-double on cuz he played half the game,” the Round Mound of Rebounds added.
Of course, he was joking. No coach would be fired simply for restricting their star player’s minutes, especially after returning from a long-term injury. Jokic missed 16 games with a knee injury he suffered on December 29. Now, he is back and will slowly, but surely, play more minutes to satisfy Barkley and others.
The Nuggets looked fine without Jokic as well, which makes them an even scarier team. They went 10-6 in his absence, establishing themselves as a genuine contender in the Western Conference.
Unfortunately, Jokic’s second game back was not as impressive. He scored just 16 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and recorded eight assists in a 121–111 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the top team in the NBA. He played four more minutes than he did against the Clippers, which once again shows that Adelman does not want to risk losing his best player to injury again this season.
By the time the playoffs arrive, however, Jokic should be ready to perform at his best.
