Jokic volunteered to come off bench to help save Nuggets' season

Ranking fourth among all big men in assists per game, it's no secret that Nikola Jokic is one of the most selfless players in the game today.

Jokic's altruistic attitude actually helped change the Denver Nuggets' season when he offered to come off the bench in order to limit the minutes he played with center Jusuf Nurkic.

"This isn’t working," Jokic told head coach Mike Malone in November, as relayed to Lee Jenkins of Sports Illustrated. "I want to come off the bench."

While the move didn't immediately pay dividends, Jokic's willingness to accept a lesser role did not go unnoticed by Malone. After starting Nurkic for a month, Malone benched him in favor of the young Serbian following a 20-point loss to the Mavericks.

"That was the crossroads," Malone said. "I decided then, 'I'm making a commitment to Nikola Jokic. I owe it to this kid. He's shown us what he's capable of doing, and if we're going to go down, let's go down with the best lineup we've got.'"

With Nurkic no longer clogging the paint, Jokic's numbers skyrocketed. He leads the team in points and rebounds over the last month-and-a-half. Denver's offense has also improved significantly since the Jokic-Nurkic tandem was broken up, with the Nuggets now ranking eighth in the NBA in offensive rating.

"It's all attributed to Nikola," Nuggets swingman Mike Miller said. "He does things I don't think you'll ever see a big guy do."