The Denver Nuggets will face the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. It should be an explosive duel as there is a history between the two teams. Even the brothers of the stars involved got involved at the time.
It was November 8, 2021. A normal regular-season game in Denver between the Nuggets and the Heat was coming to an end. The Nuggets had just fended off a last push from the guests and, thanks to two threes from Will Barton, made it 111:94. When Bam Adebayo was blocked by Nikola Jokic 2:40 minutes before the end, it was all over.
The Serb got the rebound, pushed the pace, but the visibly frustrated heat forward Markieff Morris gave Jokic a small body check – and then it happened.
Nuggets vs. Heat: When Jokic blew the fuses
The otherwise level-headed Joker ran behind Morris’ back towards his opponent and gave him a violent push that brought Morris to the ground. And it stayed there for a long time. Morris was to miss a full four months with a neck injury. “It’s a bad injury,” wrote the Forward the following February. “Imagine if a flabby 300-pound boy came at you full speed and crashed into your spine,” wrote Morris, who has been accused of faking the injury.
Jokic was kicked out of the game for the offense and missed the following game against the Indiana Pacers. Jimmy Butler was also fined, having to shell out $30,000 for subsequently attempting to escalate the situation and subsequently not cooperating with the league’s investigation.
The Heat broadcast then caught the angry butler, who yelled at the Nuggets bench and Jokic for half a minute as the referees tried to assess the incident. “Come here. Get your ass over here and let’s go,” Butler yelled at the Serb in a somewhat coarser language, pointing in the direction of the cabin aisle. However, this did not come and after the game was insightful.
“That was stupid of me,” admitted the reigning MVP at the time. “I feel bad because I shouldn’t have reacted that way, but I think it was a dirty play and I had to protect myself.” The Heat saw this a little differently, maybe they didn’t even hear what Jokic had to say.
Instead, a photo went viral of numerous Heat players waiting in the Ball Arena cabin aisle while Heat GM Andy Eisenberg confronted them so they wouldn’t do anything stupid. “Everyone is emotional in those moments and I tried to keep everyone calm,” the GM later said. “The photo looks like more than there actually was.”
The matter was not eaten yet, instead it shifted to social media. Markieff’s twin brother Morris, not a child of sadness himself, spoke up on Twitter. “He waited until my brother turned his back on him. It’s listed,” wrote the Clippers-Forward. But Jokic has brothers, two in number, Nemanja and Strahinja, who are also not known for keeping their emotions in check.
Nuggets vs. Heat: The Jokic brothers were also involved
A few months earlier, videos surfaced in which the brothers had to be held back by securityafter her little brother took on half the Suns squad. Strahinja was also in court in the USA, he was accused of causing serious bodily harm to a woman, but ultimately the eldest Jokic brother was only punished for trespassing (if you want details, you can read it here).
After the Morris incident, the two created a dedicated Twitter account (this has been confirmed) to respond to Marcus Morris. “Your brother started it. If you want to take it a step further, you can be sure that we will wait for you.” A short time later this post was deleted, since last September there has been radio silence.
Nuggets vs. Heat: Butler sees no rivalry
It’s probably for the best, “crybaby” (cc: JokicBrothers) Markieff is no longer playing for the Heat this season. Nevertheless, eleven players on both sides saw minutes, which still play roles for their teams, primarily Jokic and Butler, of course.
Since then, the Nuggets have won all three games against Miami (9-1 since 2019), all games have passed without incident. “I don’t think it’s a rivalry,” Butler said a few months later. “Of course that sounds good, but I really don’t want anything to do with it. Jokic is an incredible player,” said Butler.
And that’s only understandable. Like Butler (30th pick 2011), Jokic was drawn far outside the lottery, like Butler, the Serb needed a few years to even begin to be a star. Both were always underdogs, one of the two will now win the big prize.
NBA Finals: The dates at a glance
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2023-05-30 15:49:00
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