Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic took coaching matters into his own hands on Wednesday night when he was seen drawing up plays for his team during a huddle on the sidelines.
Whether or not Jokic had done this before, it was a notable moment considering the Nuggets on Tuesday shockingly fired their longtime head coach Michael Malone—and general manager Calvin Booth—with just three games left in their season. And though the front office did appoint an interim head coach (Nuggets staffer David Adelman), it’s clear Jokic, one of the league’s best players, could maybe carry that torch himself.
Check out that moment below:
Coach Jokic drew up a play for the Nuggets 😅 pic.twitter.com/YgXfYDnbCk
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 10, 2025
Given Jokic’s star power and his beloved but lackadaisical approach to basketball, plus the bygone era of NBA player-coaches, fans then saw this all happening and immediately had jokes.
Nikola Coachic? https://t.co/bk2UjahG2h
— deryk (@derapy_) April 10, 2025
Don’t ever say this man don’t care about basketball https://t.co/noGB8MX6cq
— Zeke (@Zeke22345) April 10, 2025
Fired the head coach to turn their star center into one https://t.co/Y4qYWYSRCg
— 08’ sour (@oxturbo) April 10, 2025
the starting center, the franchise player, the on-court leader, the playmaker, and the head coach. https://t.co/sX4asbC7u0
— Samuel H Napitupulu (@samuelna70) April 10, 2025
Jokic Russell https://t.co/AyM3XRxhfX
— PK Kaiser (@PKCzar) April 10, 2025
Lmao player coach in the year of our lord 2025 https://t.co/ClYkqdOiXw
— FijiVoid (@VoidFiji) April 10, 2025
He became too important at work https://t.co/UI2KdDvK8S
— TK Al-Mahti (@LilFuckin_Weenr) April 10, 2025
Jokcoach😂‼️ https://t.co/yYwt81hN0m
— 23 (@nandothagreat1) April 10, 2025
Though the team could have been forgiven for losing this contest considering the turmoil that led up to it, they nonetheless pulled out the win, defeating the Sacramento Kings, 124-116. Coach Jokic, meanwhile, recorded a triple-double, with 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Next up for Denver—they’ll host the Memphis Grizzles on Friday at 9 p.m. ET.
