The day’s story coming out of the Lakers-Nuggets series should be about the miraculous comeback Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray and company managed to pull off. The Nuggets managed to evaporate a 20-point lead completely to comeback and win Game 2 against LA, giving Denver a commanding 2-0 series lead as the teams travel to California.
That’s not what anyone is talking about today, though. Instead, we’re all focused on what happened in the stands.
Nikola Jokic’s brother, Strahinja Jokic, appeared to punch a fan during an altercation that occurred in Ball Arena shortly after Game 2 on Monday night, according to The Athletic. Video of the altercation surfaced on Twitter following the game.
There aren’t too many details out about the situation now, but here’s everything we know about it so far.
Wait, so Jokic's brother got in a fight?
After the game, Strahinja Jokic appeared to have an altercation with a fan. Video surfaced after the game and Strahinja appeared to punch the fan in the face.
He approaches the man in the stands below and throws a punch that connects with the man’s chin. The two continued to exchange words after the punch.
It was this video that led to the questions everyone has today.
YO! That's wild. So what started all this?
That’s what’s unclear at this point. We don’t know what started all of this yet. The NBA is conducting an investigation on it, however, according to The Athletic:
“The NBA confirmed to The Athletic that it is looking into an alleged altercation between Strahinja and the fan. The Nuggets are not commenting on the situation as of yet, but are known to be actively looking into the altercation.“
We may not know what happened here yet, but we’ll certainly find out.
Wow. What a strange situation.
It is strange, certainly, but it’s not surprising in the least bit. Jokic’s brothers have a bit of a violent reputation at this point.
Remember a few years ago when Jokic got into an altercation on the court with Markieff Morris? They threatened to get involved after Marcus Morris tweeted about Nikola’s cheap shot on Markieff. Not only that, but the brothers also appeared ready and willing to get into an altercation a few years ago when Nikola and Devin Booker got into it.
Yikes, man. That's scary.
It is. Strahinja, himself, has also had some legal troubles in the past, according to The Athletic.
“Strahinja Jokić was arrested for allegedly choking and pushing a woman during a domestic dispute on Sept. 26, 2019, when he was accused of second-degree assault and two misdemeanors by the Denver District Attorney’s Office. According to the Denver Post, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of obstruction of phone service and felony trespassing in February 2020. The other charges were reportedly dismissed.“
None of this is a good look for him.
So how does this end?
At this point, that’s unclear. We have to wait until the end of the NBA’s investigation to see where the league will take things.
But one thing is for sure: The history here does not look great. It feels like a certainty that the NBA will consider it. If it does, it wouldn’t be shocking at all if the Jokic brothers weren’t a fixture at these games anymore.
Honestly, though, that might be the least of their troubles after this.
