It's Wild How Little Respect From Officials Nikola Jokic Gets As The Reigning NBA MVP

C. Morgan Engel. Getty Images.

You would think that when you establish yourself in the NBA as a legit superstar, that it comes with a certain amount of respect from officials. You get a different whistle. When you also happen to win an MVP, that's almost always the case. Think about it. Would you say guys like KD, LeBron, Harden, Giannis, Embiid etc get the benefit of the doubt more often than not? I'd say we all can agree the answer there is yes.

Yet somehow, there's Nikola Jokic. A superstar and reigning MVP, and yet you'd never know it if you watch how he gets officiated. It's really unlike anything we see with players of his caliber. Even with the new rule changes, what he deals with on a nightly basis compared to what actually gets called isn't anywhere close. All he's done to back up his MVP season is throw up 26.5/13.8/7.3 on 58/37% splits with 1.7 3PM. That's right, he's arguably playing better than his MVP season and is single handedly keeping the Nuggets alive while their entire roster is either hurt or in health and safety protocols. 

Advertisement

Despite all that, he has nights like we saw against the Wizards last night. He got tossed in the fourth quarter for losing his shit, and when you look back at the tape you can see why

Would you be at all surprised if I told you that Tony Brothers worked this game? What about if I then tell you that Brothers has tossed Jokic 5 times since 2018-19. Seems like maybe there's something personal there because you cannot watch that video and tell me that all four of those plays are no calls. Name another superstar and MVP that doesn't get a single call in any of those plays. You can't. So my question is what the hell does Jokic have to do? He's humble, he doesn't say shit, all he does is go out on the floor and dominate yet he gets officiated like he's a role player. Who cares if he's bigger and stronger than people guarding him, fouls are fouls. How is that any different from someone like Joel Embiid or Giannis? These physical forces that simply overpower people. 

Jokic averages just 5 FTA a night with 30% FTA rate. Embiid? 10.1 FTA with a 59% FTA rate. Giannis? 10.1 FTA and a 56% FTA rate. You're telling me it's normal for their shit to be 2x what Jokic gets as an MVP who also plays around the basket? No chance. I think it's safe to say that Jokic for whatever reason does not get anywhere close to the same superstar and MVP whistle his contemporaries get. 

Does he lose his temper at times? Absolutely, he can be better at that no doubt about it. But can you really blame him when you see how he's being officiated? I'm sure Nuggets fans know what I'm talking about because they deal with this shit on a nightly basis. As an outsider looking in, I just can't think of another player that's Jokic's caliber get called like this. It's basically the exact opposite of what happens once you reach the level he's at. 

I feel like this is a situation where Michael Malone has to just eat the fine and protect his franchise player. Lose your shit in a press conference, get tossed from a game, because any objective person can see that Jokic is getting boned on a nightly basis. You breathe on other superstars, it's a foul. You literally kick Jokic in the dick while also elbowing him in the throat, and it's a no call. 

You would lose your shit too if that kept happening.