"Lowest Level Since..." Denver Columnist Questions Jokic Over Sluggish Start to the Season

Pulse Sports Team 17:19 - 02 November 2026

Nikola Jokic, widely considered the premier player in world basketball in recent years, has opened the new NBA season at a slightly subdued pace—prompting questions in the U.S. about whether his peak is behind him.

The 31-year-old Serbian center is averaging 21.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 9.2 assists across the first five games of the new season. For virtually any other player in the league, those numbers would represent career-best form, but the bar is set considerably higher for the superstar big man.

That drop in production caught the attention of American journalist Mark Kiszla of The Denver Gazette, who published a column questioning whether Jokic has already captured his final MVP award and will finish his career with three regular-season MVP trophies.

"Trends can't be established after just five games in a long NBA season. But consider this: Denver seems to be trying to reshape, or at least adjust, its identity. While he remains a triple-double machine, Nikola Jokic's scoring average has fallen to 21.2 points per game—his lowest output since 2019-20, the season before he launched his MVP run and cemented his status as the best player on the planet. Has Jokic won his last MVP award? And have the Nuggets decided they might be a more dangerous team by not relying as heavily on their best player's scoring?" wrote Mark Kiszla of The Denver Gazette.

In the season opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Jokic was held to just 13 points before bouncing back with a massive 35-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist triple-double against the New Orleans Pelicans. In the three games that followed, he scored 19, 21, and 18 points. His shooting efficiency has also slumped, connecting on just 47.7% from the floor and a career-worst 20.8% from beyond the arc.