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Nikola Jokic Said He Told Aaron Gordon Not to Play Through Injury

Tim Capurso

Jokic (left) was appreciative of Gordon (right) and his willingness to play through injury.
Jokic (left) was appreciative of Gordon (right) and his willingness to play through injury. / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images
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Denver Nuggets playoff hero Aaron Gordon was very questionable for Sunday's Game 7, an eventual Nuggets loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, after suffering a hamstring injury during the club's Game 6 victory. Questionable turned to doubtful after a Sunday morning report indicated that the injury could sideline Gordon for up to a month.

But, in a scene straight out of an inspiring sports movie, Gordon emerged from the tunnel for warmups and actually suited up to play in the Nuggets' loss. Making an already-impressive feat even more so, Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic informed reporters that he told Gordon not to play, given the severity of his injury.

"Definitely, playing with that injury—I told him to not play," Jokic said. "You can injure yourself even worse. You can see that he was struggling a bit. Hard to move, this and that. But he's a lion. He went out and fought with us and we can just appreciate it."

Gordon, clearly laboring through the injury, attempted just four shots in 25 minutes, but managed to score 8 points and pull down 11 rebounds in the losing effort. After the game, Gordon admitted that he "couldn't sprint" and said that, had the Nuggets won, the injury would have forced him to miss "two, three games" in the conference finals.

It's no wonder that Jokic advised his teammate to sit out the contest.

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Tim Capurso
TIM CAPURSO

Tim Capurso is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in November 2023, he wrote for RotoBaller and ClutchPoints, where he was the lead editor for MLB, college football and NFL coverage. A lifelong Yankees and Giants fan, Capurso grew up just outside New York City and now lives near Philadelphia. When he's not writing, he enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with his family, including his three-legged cat Willow, who, unfortunately, is an Eagles fan.

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