Basketball has changed a lot throughout the years, and so have its rules and the way the referees call the game.
What would be just a hard, basketball foul 10 or 15 years ago is now deemed a flagrant one, and what would be a flagrant one back in the day is now a cause of ejection.
That’s what happened last night when Nikola Jokic took a hard swipe at Cameron Payne. He was frustrated and it seemed like he wanted to hurt him, but it was still a basketball foul.
Jokic got ejected after this hard foul on Payne 😯 https://t.co/EvG1Dfvuub
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 14, 2021
Jokic – and most fans – never thought that the refs would eject the reigning MVP at home on a potential elimination game with 3 minutes left in the third quarter but they were wrong. They deemed that play a flagrant two foul and sent the Joker to hit the showers early.
Needless to say, multiple personalities around the league didn’t care for that foul call, with players like Ja Morant or Trae Young saying that they should just let them play and that the league has gone soft:
playoffs. elimination game. give him a flagrant 1 and play ball man .
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) June 14, 2021
league soft ..
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) June 14, 2021
They really just kicked this man out the game…!? Wow? #Jokic
— Russell Wilson (@DangeRussWilson) June 14, 2021
This is the damn problem with the @NBA right now.. you do not make that call vs Jokic a FLAGRANT2. The swipe was a frustration foul. We’ve seen worse. The fans do not attend games for this kind of call. You’ve EJECTED the league-MVP. You don’t do this.#Unreal
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) June 14, 2021
Ain’t no ejection cmon man
— RJ (@RjHampton14) June 14, 2021
NBA is awful and soft. Ridiculous. Jokic gets ejected for that?? He barely grazed the guys nose. No blood. SOFT SOFT SOFT. #NBAPlayoffs
— Brandon Stokley (@bstokley14) June 14, 2021
A Flagrant 2 ?? Wow.
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) June 14, 2021
Did refs really just toss the league’s MVP, Jokic? Moving forward, I’m going to need everything called to the letter of the law. Can’t believe this happened 😤😤😤😤😤😤#SunsvsNuggets #NBAPlayoffs
— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) June 14, 2021
Flagrant, sure. Flagrant two? No way. Yes there's a wind-up, but the upper portion of his arm collided with his face, not his fist/hand. There's a major difference there. That's trash.
— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) June 14, 2021
That’s ridiculous for him to get ejected for that in a playoff game
— Jalen Ramsey (@jalenramsey) June 14, 2021
While we also think that calling it a flagrant two was a bit of an overreaction, Jokic should’ve known better. He’s never been known for being a dirty player, but he made a mistake by putting his fate in the referees’ hands.
The officials also need to get it together and establish a truly objective criterion as to what is a flagrant one or flagrant two foul. We’ve seen harder hits in the playoffs that go completely unnoticed.
We’re talking about the postseason. Tensions are at an all-time high and physicality goes up a notch, it’s always been like that. Jokic made a mistake, but the referees pretty much killed the game -and the Denver Nuggets season – with that soft call.
