On Monday, at the Denver Nuggets’ Media Day, Nikola Jokić was clear about the calendar, less so about what comes after. He will sign a new extension next year, he said, then paused for a long while before adding: “if they want me.”
He was eligible last summer and chose to wait. He is now entering the final year of his current contract, with a player option for 2027-28. He had already said he wanted to remain a Nugget for life. Ben Tenzer, the Nuggets’ executive vice-president of basketball operations, told the Denver Gazette that the franchise had “no concerns.”
Chantal took in neither the trophies nor the millions. She took in the clause.
A player option, mind you. At our place, a player option is when the bar volunteer says in September that he’ll be back for Easter, if we still want him. We always want him. But we can’t print the rota until he’s said yes, so I leave his box blank, in pencil, on the club-bar fridge. Denver has a blank box for a year, and they say they’re not worried. I’m not jealous, I’m a club president: a blank box, I check it every night and I don’t sleep. I wish them a good pencil. I’ve still got the chairs to put away.
See you next year, then. Until then, Jokić plays out the season under contract, and the box stays blank.
It’s true, we checked: Eurohoops.
