Nikola Jokic and Serbia can only blame themselves for letting France steal a win from the jaws of defeat on Sunday.
Many fans, however, appear to place the blame squarely on the Denver Nuggets star because of his defense (or lack thereof) late in the matchup at CO’Met in Orleans, France.
Serbia looked poised to defeat Les Bleus after Marko Guduric scored on a layup to put his team in front, 90-89, with only 4.7 seconds left in regulation.
However, France immediately inbounded the ball and attacked Serbia’s defense that was too slow to set up. Jokic, in particular, appeared confused during the ensuing sequence, as France’s Jaylen Hoard found himself wide open for the game-winning layup at the buzzer, giving the host team a thrilling 91-90 victory.
Here is the video of that wild stretch.
FRANCE GAME WINNERRRRRRRRRRRRR https://t.co/e7vGDZOJVc pic.twitter.com/nxexzd5sla
— Bala (@BalaPattySZN) August 23, 2026
Fans then mocked Jokic online for his defense.
Jokic rim protection 😋
— Anti (@EthicalAnti) August 23, 2026
I mean absolutely phenomenal defense from jokic
— DBknowsball (@GridironBuckets) August 24, 2026
Asked jokic to play defense for the last 5 seconds of a close game pic.twitter.com/FXYBIDkptE
— Suns winning it all 26-27 (@GuitarSometimes) August 23, 2026
Jokic ran into the middle of the court and stood there looking back like he aint the freaking center hahaha
— Basketball BlaBlaBla (@BBB8421) August 23, 2026
Just watch Jokic on this play pic.twitter.com/MsbwBH36yY
— TheDon 2.0💔✌🏾 (@MayTheDonRIP) August 23, 2026
But Jokic shouldn’t shoulder all the blame, as it was not all his fault that France got by so easily for an unforgivably easy bucket. Moreover, France did a great job of moving the ball quickly and attacking Serbia’s defense before it could get organized.
Serbia’s loss wasted the three-time NBA Most Valuable Player’s huge performance, as Jokic finished with 34 points to go along with 13 rebounds and 5 assists.
The good news for Jokic and Serbia is that the game was just an exhibition match before the upcoming FIBA World Cup 2027 Qualifiers.
