The Denver Nuggets will be without their MVP on Friday night in New Orleans. They face the Pelicans in their first Emirates NBA Cup game and Nikola Jokic will not be in the starting lineup.

On Friday morning, the team announced that the center was questionable for personal reasons. Altitude TV later confirmed in a report on X that Jokic will miss the game. They also said head coach Michael Malone will not coach the game because he is in Denver for personal reasons.

The team is already without forward Aaron Gordon, who is recovering from a calf injury.