What happened between Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia and Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic during their Play-Offs clash last night?
Sunday’s clash between the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets in Game 4 of their Western Conference Play-Off series produced a wild second-quarter scene involving a two-time MVP, a team owner and a retired Hall of Fame point guard.
With 2:36 left in the second quarter, Suns guard Josh Okogie tumbled into the stands while chasing a loose ball out of bounds. The ball landed in the hands of a fan with courtside seats. Jokić, meanwhile, decided that it was his job to retrieve it. He did so forcefully, yanking the ball out of the hands of the fan who corralled it.
As it turns out, the fan was Suns owner Mat Ishbia, who bought the team mid-season from exiled former owner Robert Sarver. After Jokić jarred the ball loose, he gave Ishbia a shove to the chest, sending the Suns owner tumbling back into his seat. Security intervened, and Jokić and Okogie both returned to the court.
Ishbia, a former basketball player at Michigan State and perhaps cognizant of potential trouble facing Jokic, didn’t appear to put up much resistance. He fell with his arms flailing back to his seat. Another fan, meanwhile, grabbed a chunk of Jokić’s jersey while a third put his hand on Jokic’s left arm.
Who was the fan who grabbed Nikola Jokic’s jersey?
It turns out that the fan who grabbed Jokic’s jersey was a retired NBA Hall of Famer.
The fan in the blue shirt who grabbed Jokić’s jersey was Detroit Pistons Hall of Fame point guard Isiah Thomas, who appeared to have joined Ishbia as his guest. Thomas is a friend of Ishbia’s who sits on the board on his mortgage company. Officials went to replay to assess the scene and how to sort it out.
The verdict was to issue an unsportsmanlike technical foul to Jokic. Security, meanwhile, escorted the fan in the black shirt who touched Jokic away from the court. There were no penalties for Ishbia or Thomas.
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