Why Isn't Nikola Jokic Shoving The Owner of the Phoenix Suns Turning Into a Stupid Culture War?

On Sunday night, the Phoenix Suns beat the Denver Nuggets 129-124 to even up the series 2-2. We should be talking about the unbelievable performances of Nikola Jokic, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker but instead, we need to discuss a confrontation that took place at the end of the second half between Nikola Jokic and new Suns owner, Mat Ishbia.

Nikola Jokic shoves Suns owner Mat Ishbia. 👀 pic.twitter.com/C3xVv4Vg4j

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 8, 2023

Josh Okogie dove into the stands attempting to save a loose ball on the baseline. With the play very clearly over and everyone sort of just walking back to the other side of the floor, Nikola Jokic saw a fan holding onto the ball which for some reason pissed him off and caused him to suddenly rush over and rip the ball out of his hands.

That fan happened to be the new owner of the Phoenix Suns, Mat Ishbia, who then attempted to get in Jokic’s face, again for no reason at all, before Jokic easily brushed him off and he fell into his seat like a damsel in distress waiting for Popeye to eat his spinach and come save him. Ishbia floated back down into his seat like he just saw Elvis thrust his hips for the first time.

Jokic was given a technical foul for that interaction which seems fair. I don’t think you should be in the center of a scrum with the courtside fans regardless of whether or not he wanted to quickly get the ball to start a 5-on-4 fastbreak while Okogie was in the stands.

Here’s what Jokic said about the mini-fight after the game:

“[Brothers] told me I was elbowing the fan,” Jokic said. “But the fan put the hand on me first. So I thought the league’s supposed to protect us or whatever, but maybe I’m wrong, so we will see.”

“But his hands [were] on me,” Jokic explained. “So [the NBA] is not going to protect me? They’re going to protect the fan? Not me as a person; I’m talking about as a player.”

The narrative has quickly shifted to whether or not Jokic should be suspended for knocking Ishbia over and it’s impossible for me not to recognize how everyone universally seems to understand that Ishbia was embellishing the contact and no one wants Jokic to miss a game.

Not even the lazy hot take artists are jumping off the top rope to demand further punishment for Jokic. Isn’t it so interesting that suddenly, the entire sports media landscape can dissect the nuances in a situation in which a player struck an owner when it involves a player that looks like them but if/when that player has, say, less need for sunscreen at the beach, everyone and their mothers want to see that player behind bars.

I reckon the most frustrating part of this lack of bootlicking is that everyone is right. No one involved in this should face any further punishment. No one should be suspended. No one should be banned from sitting courtside. It was a fun, fiery playoff moment and no one’s life was negatively altered. It didn’t affect the outcome of the game.

We should all be able to joke about this moment but I can’t because I know how the internet works and how these culture wars get started. We just saw Angel Reese simply celebrating her LSU squad winning the National Championship and bots created that day all rushed to drag her name because it was a black woman talking shit to a white woman. Places like Fox News and Outkick and Barstool rushed to attack her for doing the same exact thing they would have praised her opponent for doing if she had won.

I know what the discourse today would’ve looked like if Kentavious Caldwell-Pope pushed Mat Ishbia instead of Jokic. Everyone turns into police officers when brown people do things that make them uncomfortable yet with Jokic, every single person watching it instantaneously was able to detect Ishbia was flopping and was able to scoff at the idea of additional consequences.

When Kendrick Perkins went on First Take and said that race played a factor in Jokic winning the MVP every year, JJ Redick had a meltdown attempting to defend the honor of a predominantly white NBA media.

But fast forward a few months and we’re seeing exactly what Perkins was saying in real time. It’s a strange, almost helpless feeling, knowing that a black player would’ve been treated like the anti-christ from bad faith, Tucker Carlson-esque assholes while simultaneously being almost relieved that it was Jokic instead of one of his black teammates.

I don’t want anyone to be targeted for what happened in Game 4. Not Ishbia. Not Jokic. Not any random black teammate that could’ve ended up in the same situation. I don’t want to wish negatively upon anyone for such a harmless play. So it sucks to complain about Jokic not having to defend himself against Jason Whitlock. I don’t actually wish that on anyone.

We are all way too hard on these players who bust their asses every night for our enjoyment. We should be praising Jokic for dropping 53 points in Game 4.

I suppose I just want black players to have the same level of grace that Jokic receives. It’s just frustrating to see that these people are capable of seeing gray areas for guys who look like them and shut down any room for discussion when it’s a guy who’s from a neighborhood that scares them. Shrug.

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