By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Under the “player conduct” portion of the NBA rulebook, it’s an automatic ejection for “deliberately entering the stands other than as a continuance of play.”
Whether that is enough to earn a suspension, well, is hard to say.
Jokic said he was trying to get the ball back during the dead ball because he saw a five-on-four situation going the other way. You could wonder if that would pass for “continuance of play” should the Nuggets need to defend their best player against a suspension in the NBA’s court of law.
And by the way, the rulebook makes clear that “the first row of seats is considered the beginning of the stands.”
Nikola Jokic shoves Suns Owner Matt Ishbia after trying to get the ball 😬 pic.twitter.com/tnYsILH3kV
— Backcourt Alerts (@BackcourtAlerts) May 8, 2023
What did the referees see?
“The ball went over into the corner there and one of the fans was holding the ball,” Brothers said, according to a pool report. “Jokic came to get the ball, grabbed it away from the fan, then after that he deliberately gave him a shove and pushed him down, so he was issued an unsportsmanlike technical foul.”
The final Brothers comment on the matter might indicate that Jokic could be safe from suspension. Here, we’ll note that “punching” has its own section in the rule book.
“I just deemed the technical foul the appropriate penalty for what happened over there,” Brothers said. “He didn’t just run over and hit a fan. There was some engagement, so I deemed the technical foul the appropriate penalty.”