Denver Nuggets set sights on NBA repeat despite Nikola Jokic's honest admission

03 October 2023 , 23:59

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Nikola Jokic won the NBA Finals MVP last season with the Denver Nuggets (Image: Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)

Denver Nuggets stars Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray have outlined their intention to defend the NBA title this season.

The Nuggets won the first championship in franchise history in June, defeating the Miami Heat 4-1 in the NBA Finals. Jokic won the Finals MVP award for his performances across the five games, after missing out on the overall award for the season to Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid.

After enjoying three months off, the Nuggets have returned for training camp ahead of the new season. Jokic and Murray attended media day for Denver on Monday, where the duo spoke to reporters.

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Jokic was asked whether or not he had an enjoyable offseason after helping the Nuggets win the title. The 28-year-old returned to his homeland Serbia after the conclusion of the NBA season and gave an honest response.

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“I think it’s actually [the] opposite,” Jokic told reporters when asked if the last few months had been the most enjoyable offseason of his career, per the . “Because we played two and a half extra months.”

Jokic then went on to claim that he only touched a basketball “a couple of times” this offseason, which led to Murray shaking his head throughout the answer. Murray would then go on to outline Denver’s intentions to win back-to-back titles ahead of the 2023/24 season.

"I just think we can do it again," Murray told reporters, alongside Jokic, on Monday at Denver’s media day, per . "I think that's the biggest thing, just being able to repeat and go through the adversity and ups and downs of this season. Just be ready by April and going to June."

Nikola Jokic is looking to help the Denver Nuggets win another NBA championship (Jamie Schwaberow/Getty Images)

Jokic would go on to echo the comments made by Murray, insisting that the Nuggets are striving to win another championship.

"Just to win as much games as possible and try to have fun during that period," Jokic said.

"Go get the opportunity to win another one. Probably that's going to be the next step for us. Like Jamal said, like why not win again?"

Denver has five preseason games over the next few weeks including two games apiece against the Chicago Bulls and the LA Clippers, as well as another game against the Phoenix Suns. That is all the build-up to the opening night game against the Los Angeles Lakers on October 24.

Mark Wakefield