Strike 1: Denver Nuggets fandom is worried. Instead of enjoying the upcoming Paris Summer Olympics, Nuggets Nation is fretting about the participation and injury possibilities that lie ahead for the team’s two superstars, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. (It doesn’t help that neither is playing for Team USA.)
One school of thought is that the Olympics are now nothing more than a meaningless exhibition, and not worth the risk involved. So what if Team Serbia or Team Canada somehow win a bronze medal? The two Nuggets should be 100% focused on giving Denver another parade next June. Nothing else matters. Denver – not Serbia or Canada – is their meal ticket, after all.
Folks who subscribe to this idea are quick to point out what happened to the Nuggets Vlatko Cancar in the summer of 2023. Less than a year ago, he tore his ACL while competing for the Slovenian national team in a FIBA World Cup qualifying game and missed all of the past NBA season.
The other school of thought is that there’s nothing quite like representing your country in international competition. If you’re an athlete who gets a rare chance at wearing those colors in the Olympic games, are you going to turn that down?
Folks who’ve never been able to consider the ladder probably can’t truly understand the pull. But the idea, much less the actual opportunity, to play for your country is overwhelmingly powerful. In a lot of situations, it means more than money. Case in point: Cancar made his return from surgery in time to once again in time to compete for his home country this summer. It meant that much.
And the Nuggets have already re-signed him for next season.
Regardless of how Nuggets Nation feels about it, Joker will be playing meaningful minutes for Serbia, further entrenching him as a national hero in his homeland. The results aren’t going to be as important as him just being there. He’s going to be loyal to Serbia long after his Nuggets days are over. In fact, it should not shock anyone if he plays for Serbia after he’s retired from Denver.
Jamal is in a similar situation, although not quite as singular as his Nuggets running mate. Team Canada has more than one NBA star on their roster, and Jamal will share time and accolades with teammates who are just as decorated as he is. It won’t make the whole experience any less awesome for him.
Speaking of decorated, keep in mind that former Nugget Carmelo Anthony’s Basketball Hall of Fame resumé is led not by his NBA championships – of which he has none – but by his three Olympic gold medals and his record setting stats in scoring, rebounding and Olympic games played. He’s our country’s most decorated men’s basketball Olympian. That will get him into the Hall.
So much for the Olympics being meaningless.
