Nuggets star center Nikola Jokic won’t be suspended for a pivotal Game 5 of their playoff series against the Suns on Tuesday, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Rather, Jokic will be fined $25K by the league.
A tweet from the league confirms the fine.
There were questions whether Jokic would have to sit out a game due to the Game 4 incident along the sidelines involving new Suns owner Mat Ishbia on Sunday night.
Suns forward Josh Okogie dove into the crowd for a loose ball that bounced into the hands of Ishbia. Jokic then tried to take the ball from Ishbia, who was slow to give it up. The Nuggets center made contact with him after the ball came free and Ishbia fell backward. Jokic was assessed a technical foul during the late second quarter altercation.
One fan was removed from his seat for making contact with the Nuggets big man, while Ishbia remained in his seat after the incident.
Denver can breathe a sigh of relief that its franchise player won’t miss Game 5 with the series tied at 2-2. He is averaging 30.8 points, 13.1 rebounds and 9.2 assists this postseason, including a 53-point explosion in the Game 4 loss.
I’ll give Mat some respect for asking the League not to suspend Joker. I’m not sure if his post helped influence the decision at all, but it was classy of him to defend Niko in this scenario.
Agreed 100%
He did touch Jokic on the waist right before Jokic gave him a soft elbow to the chest. The owner also should not have been holding the ball like that and delaying the play on the floor. Then he unnecessarily puts his hand on the players waist. So really, he should have been removed from the game. But he wasn’t removed, Jokic isn’t suspended. It’s fair. He should also offer to pay Joker’s fine too but they’re both super rich anyways lol
How much was Ishbia fined?
Preposterous
The NBA is an utter joke. Pathetic
Now report Ishbia’s fine for interfering with the game and placing his hand on Jokic. If one fan was removed from his seat, Ishbia should at least be fined considering he was the worst offender.
For all the dolts on this board hating on Ishbia for no reason, is the ref not the one who should’ve got the ball? Is Jokic pushing Ishbia after the ball was out of his hands not excessive. Jokic said after the game he wanted the ball because it would have been a 5 on 4 situation, undercutting any sportsmanship the NBA (pretends) to promote.
I swear half of the people who post on here do not like basketball. They use it as a tool to take their anger out, and nobody around them cares so they take it here. Get a healthier hobby
Or, get this, people have a different opinion than you on this matter, which isn’t that serious. I really don’t understand how you’ve come to the conclusion that people don’t like basketball just because 90% of posters think Ishbia is in the wrong. It feels like you’re throwing a temper tantrum just because people disagree with you.
And if anything, it seems to me the person taking the side of an owner over a player–the ones who actually entertain us and don’t just use their copious amount of wealth to buy a team–is the person who is more likely to not enjoy basketball. But that’s just me.
Taking the side of an owner?? All owners are evil?? Starting to understand your reasoning lol.
That isn’t my reasoning–I’m just using that to debunk your asinine statement that we don’t like basketball just because we don’t agree with your opinion.
Calmer than you are, dude.
Perfection, Walter. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for Ishbia to be fined say $5K or something. The msg is that this is fine for owners to do, which it isn’t.
Ishbia’s “flop” alone should have cost him some $$$s. Pathetic.
Only Karen’s uses the word dolt
The Jokic Fanboys (TM) are a passionate bunch.
@boner Worst post I’ve seen in a while
Couldn’t agree more lol ……
plus ref gets ball and is in no rush. Not up to Jokic.
Like I said, A. Silver destroying the league
He is
This is the least controversial controversy I’ve ever seen.
Balls end up in the stands, no one gets fined. They don’t run and cower when the ball comes near for fear of a fine. Just stop with this nonsense.
fined for what?! Playing basketball and going for the ball so his team could have a 5-4 advantage?! To him a fan was trying to steal the ball and preventing him from playing… which is exactly what happened. I’m not a fan of either team.. but holy hell
Jokic did nothing to get suspended or even fined or even the technical he got was excessive, right?
The big baby throws another fit
Now we know how to stop jokic,use ur owner to hold the ball.
Big bully gets away with bad behavior and bad defense
Repeat offender
Found Markieff Morris.
Pleasantly surprised the NBA actually got something kinda right. Preserved the integrity of the series which is what people that know basketball care about. Fanatics fortunately didn’t get a vote!
Not sure why Jokic was fined 25k, seems like an opportunistic fine.
A fine for the sake of fining… Not for justice, but for pocket change. Ok???
NBA can’t help but put their signature of ineptitude on everything they touch, but this isn’t their worst hatchet job.
Thank goodness for basketball this series may still be decided by the players, and not suits.