Nikola Jokic was assessed a technical foul during Monday night’s game for bumping into Washington Wizards coach Scott Brooks. Depending on who you ask, the contact initiated by Jokic may or may not have been intentional.
Brooks was walking onto the court as Jokic was walking off following a timeout late in the fourth quarter. He put his head down and bumped Brooks. Here’s the video:
Anther view of the Jokic/Brooks run in @BSNNuggets pic.twitter.com/8CKxYUCKd5
— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) October 24, 2017
Jokic told reporters after the game that he did not see Brooks coming and was trying to look up at the scoreboard. That’s difficult to believe, especially since he never looked back or offered an apology after making contact with Brooks. Whether it was intentional or not, Denver Nuggets coach Mike Malone felt Brooks flopped a bit.
DEN coach Mike Malone on Jokic bumping Scott Brooks: "There's contact made. It was embellished a little bit, to be honest, I think."
— Candace Buckner (@CandaceDBuckner) October 24, 2017
The technical foul ended up being significant. Bradley Beal made the ensuing free throw to increase Washington’s lead to 105-102, and he then sealed the win with a layup on the next possession. Wizards star John Wall felt Jokic should have apologized.
“That’s something you don’t do,” Wall said, per ABC News. “No matter what’s going on between the players or teammates, that’s something you don’t do to a coach. It’s like me calling a coach a certain name. But hopefully he’ll apologize.”
Jokic admitted he was frustrated about being pushed from behind just before he bumped into Brooks, which makes his story even tougher to believe. It will be interesting to see if the NBA deems the act worthy of a fine.
