Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinals between the Nuggets and the Suns included an incident between Nikola Jokic and Suns owner Mat Ishbia.
The Serbian superstar went for the ball which ended up out of bounds in Ishbia’s hands. The Suns owner refused to give the ball up and Jokic tried to rib it from his hands.
During the scuffle Jokic pushed Ishbia and was given a technical foul. “[The referee] told me I was elbowing the fan,” the two-time NBA MVP said after the game. “But the fan put the hand on me first. So I thought the league’s supposed to protect us or whatever. But maybe I’m wrong. So we will see.”
Jokic was aware of who the person that he had a scuffle was, but since he was sitting next to the court, he was a fan the Nuggets forward said. “I know who he is, but he’s a fan, isn’t he if he’s sitting on the court? Whoever it is, he’s a fan. He cannot influence the game by holding the ball,” Joker said.
The superstar did not appreciate the fact that the game officials did not protect him as a player but instead punished him.
“But his hand on me. So they’re not going to protect me? They’re going to protect the fan? Not me as a person, but I’m talking about as a player,” Jokic said. “They can do whatever of course. They don’t care. But I think they’re supposed to protect players.”
“I was trying to rip the ball and didn’t let go,” Jokic later added. “So he’s influencing the game. I think he’s supposed to get kicked out if he’s influencing the game.”
Jokic also explained why he went to retrieve the ball instead of letting the officials to do that. “Because [Josh] Okogie was on the ground and we had advantage 5 on 4,” he said.
