Nikola Jokic and the Miami Heat were involved in an altercation on Monday night after the 2021 NBA MVP exchanged cheap shots with Markieff Morris. Jokic shoved the twin from the back, benches cleared and several players seem ready to go at it.
Fortunately, nothing bigger happened and everybody is cool now. Even though Jokic’s brothers stirred the pot with their statements on Twitter, warning Marcus Morris and buying tickets to the next Heat-Nuggets game, things are cool now.
Udonis Haslem already commented on this situation, saying he doesn’t think Jokic is a dirty player, and there’s no beef with the Serbian center. PJ Tucker jumped on that train, too, clarifying that there’s no issue with Jokic and the reaction from the Heat was to protect their teammate and nothing else.
“Markieff is my brother,” Tucker said, via Baxter Holmes of ESPN. “He’s been my brother for a long time. Of course, when my brother is down on the floor, I’m worried. But he’s good so I can’t wait to get him back.”
“We’re men, man. We’ve got kids. You’ve got to think about our livelihoods. It’s not just basketball. Guys have to protect each other and have each others’ back. That situation is over and we’ve got to move on and get ready for tonight and the next two games.”
When you’re on a team, you’re in a community, you look for each other and that’s what happened with the Heat on Monday night. Tucker is one of the dogs the Heat have on their roster. He’s a very competitive guy, but also knows it’s basketball at the end of the day.
Things shouldn’t transcend the court. It happened, Jokic was suspended, Morris and Jimmy Butler were fined and that’s it. They were trying to protect themselves and their teammates.
We hope there’s no retaliation next November 29, when the Nuggets visit the Heat at FTX Arena.
