Chicago Bulls fans dejected after Nikola Jokic's night got cut short due to an ejection

It was a bizarre night for Bulls fans.

© David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

There was a reason why the Chicago Bulls held Serbian Heritage Night on Tuesday night. The Denver Nuggets were in town, and so was superstar big man Nikola Jokic, who hails from Serbia, to battle the Bulls.

A sizable Serbian crowd also trooped to the United Center to watch Jokic play. After all, barring a miracle of divine proportions, the Bulls aren’t expected to meet the Nuggets in the NBA Finals anytime soon, which means this was going to be the only time the two-time MVP would play at the United Center.

However, plenty of fans were left dejected as officials ejected Jokic from the game late in the first half for directing “foul language” towards a referee.

Very disappointed

Chicago is home to one of the largest Serbian communities in the world, so naturally, many Serbians came to show support for their hoops hero but left disappointed.

“Very disappointed,” said Bogdan Vejanovic in a report by Bulls insider Sam Smith. “For no reason; it was shocking. This was my first Bulls game. We came to see him.”

Another fan, Ethan Axelrod, flew in from Denver to catch his two favorite teams but didn’t get his money’s worth.

“I flew into today, I’m leaving tomorrow morning, I’m here just for this game,” Axelrod said.

“I couldn’t believe it. He was jawing with the ref, so maybe he deserved a technical. But then to throw him right out like that? I’ve never seen anything like that. You know a lot of fans were here to see him.”

Nikola Jokic is immediately ejected from the Bulls-Nuggets for arguing a no-call and even Bulls announcers Adam Amin and Stacey King are in disbelief.

"The people didn't come to see the officials, let's be honest, they came to see the players."

It's Serbian Heritage Night in… pic.twitter.com/w8ejIp4AMX

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 13, 2023

Even the Bulls thought ejecting Jokic was excessive

Jokic’s ejection left a lot of people appalled, including the Bulls’ broadcast team, which called the call “excessive.”

“That's terrible,” Bulls analyst Stacey King said.

“That's excessive. Give the guy a tech. He should've got a tech. But to eject the guy, come on now. The people didn't come to see the officials. They came to see the players. He's one of the players that people came to see. Give him a tech. He earns that. He's a two-time MVP. He earned the right to be able to communicate.”

"I'm just happy that we didn't play in Serbia, this game. It's could've been really fun to see how it would be handled." - Nikola Jokić 👀 pic.twitter.com/cYmOwJQPOt

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) December 13, 2023

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