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Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has been called out by fans for what they believe is a cheap shot in the injured shoulder of Portland Trail Blazers big man Enes Kanter.
While Blazers coach Terry Stotts said that it was uncalled for, Nuggets coach Michael Malone came to his player's defense and argued there was nothing malicious about the play.
“Normal play. I think Terry is off base there,” Malone said, per Royce Young of ESPN. “Personally, I don't think it was anything malicious. Just like some of their screens in the first two games, I don't think there was anything malicious to it — with Kanter getting tossed into Torrey Craig. This is the playoffs. We're all big boys, let's go out and play the game accordingly.”
Malone added that Jokic isn't a dirty player and it's not in his nature to purposely hurt an opponent.
“I have known Nikola Jokic for four years. He doesn't have that kind of personality, he doesn't have that DNA gene where he's going to go out there and make nonbasketball plays and try to hurt anybody or do anything that is beyond the limits of what is sportsmanship and what is not sportsmanship. So I would definitely not agree with Terry's assessment.”
Kanter has been playing with a separated shoulder over the past couple of games, and that shot by Jokic during last night's 4OT thriller could have made things worse. After the game, the Turkish big man was seen using his jersey as some sort of sling to support his shoulder.
Jokic has made a reputation as one of the best centers in the league, but one thing that he's not known for is playing dirty.
