Nikola Jokic calls Aaron Gordon the ‘soul’ of the Nuggets: ‘He probably doesn’t get as much respect as he deserves’

Big man Nikola Jokic had the gaudiest stats of any player for the Denver Nuggets in Game 1 of their second-round series against the Oklahoma City Thunder with a 42-point double-double, but his performance maybe would have been all for naught if not for a clutch shot from forward Aaron Gordon.

Gordon knocked down a 3-pointer to give the Nuggets a two-point lead with less than three seconds to play. The Nuggets went on to win by two points and now have home-court advantage in their best-of-seven series.

After Denver picked up a victory thanks in large part to Gordon’s late-game heroics, Jokic gushed over his teammate and called Gordon the “soul” of the Nuggets.

“He is the soul of this team,” Jokic said. “He probably doesn’t get as much respect as he deserves. But I think he doesn’t need it.”

Gordon might not have scored more than 40 points like Jokic did, but his impact was still felt across the stat sheet. He totaled 22 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 from 3-point range and also grabbed the second-most rebounds of any Nugget with 14.

He has provided the Nuggets with quite a consistent scoring punch in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Gordon is averaging 19.3 points per game across eight contests thus far, and only Jokic and guard Jamal Murray are averaging more points on a game-to-game basis in that span.

Gordon has been a member of the Nuggets for four-plus seasons now and was a major contributor to the first Nuggets title team in franchise history. He started all 20 of the games he played in during Denver’s title run in the 2023 NBA Playoffs.

For what he brings to the table on both ends of the floor, Gordon has a real case for being one of the more underappreciated players in today’s NBA. He isn’t afraid to get his nose dirty on defense for the betterment of the team and can also carry the scoring load for stretches when needed.

Gordon and the Nuggets will try to carry over their momentum from their Game 1 victory into Wednesday’s Game 2. Denver can take a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed with another win. The Thunder lost just six games at home in the 2024-25 regular season.