Watch: Nikola Jokic wraps former Denver Nuggets assistant coach Wes Unseld Jr. in a wholesome embrace

Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets against Montrezl Harrell of the Washington Wizards [Source: AP]

The reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets hosted the Washington Wizards at Ball Arena on Monday night. The NBA is considered a brotherhood and all the players consider their peers as part of one large community.

Whenever old friends meet at these games, it is a sight for sore eyes. It reminds us that as much as these players go out and compete with each other, they are still just playing a game and having fun while doing what they love.

The Joker ran into the arms of his friend and former colleague, Wes Unseld Jr., who is now the head coach of the Washington Wizards. The two shared a wholesome and sentimental moment when they met for the first time this season.

Nobody in Denver was as excited to see Coach Unseld as Nikola Jokić was😂😂😂

All love from The Joker! https://t.co/NZmcvH2IyZ

Washington Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr. was an assistant with the Denver Nuggets for six seasons from 2015 to 2021. He has been with Nikola Jokic for the better part of the big man's career and the two share a special bond. When The Joker saw his old assistant coach, he ran to him for a hug.

The two teams are separate conferences so they meet just twice a year. Their next matchup is scheduled for March 17th, 2022.

Catching up with an old friend!

#DCAboveAll https://t.co/dXN7BEGy69

Denver Nuggets routed the struggling Washington Wizards despite Nikola Jokic's late ejection

Nikola Jokic gets ejected in the fourth quarter against the Washington Wizards

The Denver Nuggets are now 14-13 and Nikola Jokic's MVP case is getting stronger. He overtook Warriors' Stephen Curry in Basketball-Reference's MVP tracker that uses numbers and statistics to analyze the NBA MVP race.

The tracker has given Nikola Jokic a 30.2% chance to win the award, while Curry has fallen from 66% two weeks ago to 20.1% now.

Nikola Jokic barked at the referee midway through the fourth quarter because he felt they missed an obvious foul. He was ejected from the game but it didn't matter because he had already done the damage.

In the 31 minutes he logged, he dropped 28 points and grabbed a whopping 19 boards. He was one assist shy of a triple-double and he would have certainly achieved it had he played the full game. Jokic also had 3 steals and a block as he shot 9-14 from the field on the offensive end.

JOKIC did all of this in 31 MINS before being ejected (by Tony Brothers again)

28 Points
19 Rebounds
9 Assists
3 Steals
1 Block
64% FG
50% 3PT
81% FT

https://t.co/kZLLYLqhil

The score was 103-86 when Nikola Jokic was ejected and the Wizards instantly tried a comeback in the six minutes left. They rallied back to make it a six-point game but the rest of the Denver Nuggets hung on to win the game. Jokic spoke about his ejection and the victory in the postgame press conference, saying:

"To be honest, I think I didn’t deserve it, especially an ejection...I just said ‘Call a foul’ because I thought it was a foul...I’m watching the game in the locker room...It’s a little bit different. You cannot help and be there. That was my mistake, of course. But they figured it out. The most important thing is they won the game."

Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets take on the Minnesota Timberwolves at home in their next game before leaving on a road trip to face the Atlanta Hawks and Brooklyn Nets.