When Nikola Jokic suffered a knee hyperextension following his collision with teammate Spencer Jones against the Miami Heat late in December, everyone thought that the Denver Nuggets might not be able to stay afloat in his absence. However, during the sixteen games for which the Joker was missing, the Mile-High City went 10-6. This, of course, indicated that once the three-time MVP returned, things would only get better. But, they didn’t.

Ever since Jokic’s return from the injury, which has even put his MVP odds into jeopardy, Denver has surprisingly struggled. In the 13 games the Serbian big man has played thus far, the Nuggets have only won five. While that might make you think the slump is due to Jokic being rusty, injuries to other key players like Aaron Gordon, or simply a tough stretch of games, the real reason is none of those.

Instead, it’s a chronic injury that has held Jokic and the Nuggets back, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

“They’ve got to be real careful. But it’s the injury that’s not even on the reports they’re really concerned about, which is Joker’s wrist,” MacMahon said on the latest episode of The Hoops Collective podcast. “Not the knee that kept him out a month. He’s been dealing with this wrist thing for years, off and on. And it’s kind of like a day-to-day type of thing where some days he wakes up, and it doesn’t bother him, and some days it’s stiff as hell.”

Occasional wrist pain has been a lingering issue with the big man for about six years, according to the center’s own admission. But it’s been flaring up recently, since before the All-Star break. That’s why the veteran had his shooting wrist all taped for the first game back from the break against the Clippers.

During that game, Jokic’s struggles were evident as he went 9-of-22 from the field. But just 24 hours later, he removed the tape and put up 32 points in Denver’s blowout 157-103 win over Portland. So, did he recover from that injury magically overnight? Most probably not. Still and all, when the reporters asked him about his wrist, Jokic played down the injury.

“I’m not going to say I’m playing through pain,” he said. “Especially on camera.”

Even if he won’t admit it, Jokic’s struggles are becoming more obvious day by day. It’s reached the point where Denver’s cornerstone, chasing another title, is putting up some of the worst numbers of his career.

Nikola Jokic is going through a historic slump

In the last ten games, the Joker has averaged 27.7 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 10.3 assists. These numbers on the surface sound amazing, but it’s the shooting splits where things get doubtful.

Jokic has been shooting a near 47/28/76 split in these games. This is not only significantly lower than his career average of 57/40/82, but also lower than the worst season he has had in terms of shooting, which came way back during his third season in the league. Even then, he was managing almost 50 percent shooting from the field. Clearly, the wrist might be bothering Jokic more than we know.

As of now, there seems to be no permanent fix. The best he can do is to see where he’s at on a day-to-day basis. Yet, this should ring alarm bells not just for the Joker but for the entire Nuggets organization. If he doesn’t get back to his old consistency, Denver doesn’t stand a chance in the playoffs in a stacked Western Conference.