Nuggets Furious With NBA After Nikola Jokic-Mat Ishbia Incident

Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia met each other during Game 4, but not in a typical way.

The Phoenix Suns were able to level their second-round series with the Denver Nuggets after a crucial Game 4 victory, and plenty of storylines will be talked about between now and Tuesday's Game 5. 

However, none are bigger than the incident that happened between Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Suns owner Mat Ishbia, as the two made contact with each other when play was stopped. 

Ishbia was holding the ball and Jokic was trying to retrieve it. Jokic put his elbow into Ishbia and the Suns' owner returned to his playing days with a little flop to sell the call.

Jokic was assigned a technical foul:

Should Nikola Jokic receive more punishment for the elbow on Suns owner Mat Ishbia?

Or did Ishbia flop? 🧐pic.twitter.com/pvqagkNc83

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) May 8, 2023

After the game, Nuggets coach Mike Malone spoke on the issue:

"I'm still not really sure what happened, I haven't seen a video of it. I think it's crazy Nikola got a technical foul in that situation, he was going to get the ball and some fan is holding on to the ball, he wants to be part of the game. Just give the ball up, man. They deemed Nikola doing something that was excessive I guess and they gave him the tech, but I still don't really understand it."

After being told it wasn't a fan - but rather Ishbia - he responded with, "I don't give a s---."

Jokic himself said:

"He [the official] told me I was elbowing the fan, but the fan put his hand on me first. I thought the league was supposed to protect us or whatever. Maybe I'm wrong, so we will see."