By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic was ejected with four minutes to play in the third quarter of Game 4 between the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns.
Jokic tried to steal the ball from Cameron Payne and his arm hit the face of the Suns‘ guard. After reviewing the play, the referees decided that Jokic’s foul was a “Flagrant 2” which meant his immediate ejection. The Serbian center went to Payne and had a moment that looked like he was apologizing to his opponent, before heading to the locker room.
After his foul, Jokic and Devin Booker got involved in a heated confrontation.
Jokic got ejected after this hard foul on Payne ? pic.twitter.com/EvG1Dfvuub
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 14, 2021
Despite the scuffle, Booker has played versus Jokic plenty of time and knows the Joker didn’t have any malicious intent.
“That’s all I said, just ‘What are you doing?’ It’s just an emotional play. I don’t think he meant harm by it. Just a frustration foul. It’s tough, just defending my teammate, that was it. I’ve played against the Joker multiple times. I know he’s not a malicious player,” Booker said.
Nuggets coach Mike Malone was asked about what was the explanation he received by the referees and he said: “Wind up… malicious intent… some other mambo jumbo.”
Jokic’s explanation came as well, with the reigning MVP not expecting an ejection. “I wanted to change the rhythm of the game, I wanted to give us some energy, maybe change the whistle a little bit, so I wanted to make a hard foul,” Jokic said. “Did I hit him, did I not hit him? We don’t know. So I say sorry if I did because I did not want to injure him or hit him in the head on purpose.”