Apparently, it wasn’t just the fans and media who were concerned about the Nuggets’ preseason performance. We’ve heard this sentiment from head coach Michael Malone, too, and now superstar Nikola Jokic has echoed the exact same sentiment.

In an interview on Monday, Jokic discussed his team’s preseason play in a very blunt manner. He was particularly critical of the defense and shot-making, saying: “We played very poorly and poorly all pre-season”.

It’s a stark assessment and comes as an eye-opener with the NBA regular season just days away. It’s concerning to hear the league’s MVP criticize his own team and call out his teammates, his organization, and himself.

But at the same time, Jokic isn’t saying anything controversial. Anyone with eyes that watched preseason games knows the team wasn’t playing well. The lack of defensive effort was clearly visible and in case that wasn’t obvious enough, Malone was keen to emphasize this in detail during his press conference.

The lack of shooting was also glaringly obvious to anyone watching the games or even reading the box score. They still don’t take nearly enough threes and their poor defense allows opponents to shoot them at a high percentage. The combination is a recipe for disaster right out of the gate.

That Jokic can honestly acknowledge these issues shows at least a sense of awareness. When the best player and leader throws around comments like that, you can be sure the message will be received loud and clear throughout the organization.

This is a great show of leadership from the Joker, shedding light on the team’s problems and telling everyone exactly what they need to fix, and how they know they need to play better once the regular season starts. Role players take cues from the stars and Jokic sets a good example for his teammates, especially the younger players.

It’s one thing to say the right things. Everyone should know what the Nuggets need to do, and if the players need to hear it from Jokic, then that’s a different problem. But doing the right things is a completely different matter. The real games begin and the players have to pick it all up and put in the right intensity and effort from opening night.