Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic got ejected on Tuesday night in the most baffling fashion while playing the Chicago Bulls on the road.
Referees ejected Jokic after he simply tried to advocate for something with one of the game’s referees, which sparked mass confusion with Jokic, Denver coach Michael Malone, the game’s broadcasting crew and even the spectators at United Center who came to see Jokic play.
It’s very rare that you’re going to see a home crowd boo referees for ejecting a visiting player, but this is just how confounding the ejection was.
It’s incredibly hard to justify why Jokic got any sort of response here from the ref he was talking to, much less an actual ejection.
To make this even worse, Awful Announcing noted that it was Serbian Heritage Night at the game.
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
We’re not even sure what else to say here. This is just a gross overstep of officiating, sending out perhaps the game’s best player for something so routine as arguing something with a referee.
NBA fans were just not here for this.
Officials treat this dude like a role player. It's crazy. https://t.co/A4EOc73Uz2
— Michael Sykes, II (@MikeDSykes) December 13, 2023
Imagine paying hundreds of dollars to watch Jokic play and he gets ejected for this before halftime https://t.co/hHlPpyEAda
— Gifdsports (@gifdsports) December 13, 2023
NBA officiating has been so bad collectively this season https://t.co/BLcfCY5kwu
— Tristan (@TBeckmann24) December 13, 2023
the fact that the home crowd is booing when a player on the road team gets ejected tells you all you need to know about the state of NBA refereeing in the year 2023 https://t.co/hcN8Xg0TgJ
— DT (@GianniGoat) December 13, 2023
First THJ got a tech for hanging on the rim, and now this… The refs need to be held accountable in some way https://t.co/4JoQaj95CO
— Jacob Moreno (@Jacobmorenonba) December 13, 2023
Adam Silver has got to do something about this crap bro😭 https://t.co/IbmiktPQPk
— Josh (@joshwhitephoto) December 13, 2023
Even the bulls announcers were annoyed lmao I’m done with these refs https://t.co/I2AIyjoNcO
— rockRockedRock (@rocked_rock) December 13, 2023
America’s two biggest sport have an officiating problem and this is not good https://t.co/vqKMRPWK50
— Luccas (@Iuccqss) December 13, 2023
Commissioner gotta do something at this point refs can’t keep ejecting the stars that the people pay to see https://t.co/nGE9ZE4L10
— Your Mailman Is Back (@AKP_SkinnyMane) December 13, 2023
Referees association should refund all ticket holders https://t.co/t581gyJuD4
— Ben Appley (@BenAppley) December 13, 2023
They’re out of control these refs are sooooo bad. https://t.co/rOOpVRgyxy
— New Dawn (@imageofanewdawn) December 13, 2023
Every night now, the officials are tossing stars out.
The officiating product is getting increasingly bad, players are getting frustrated at how inconsistent the game is called, and the SECOND they question it or push back, it's an ejection.
Broken product. https://t.co/TdGglb8SxS
— Mike (@TheMessyChefy) December 13, 2023
