Markieff Morris is a professional basketball player who plays for Dallas Mavericks. This former Kansas Jayhawks player got drafted by Phoenix Suns in the 2011 NBA draft and won NBA Championship in 2020 with the Los Angeles Lakers.
On the other hand, Nikola Jokic is a basketball star of the Denver Nuggets. He is a two-time MVP and is a star player on the team. The duo had a bad work day during the regular season games of 2021.
So, let’s explore how the beef between the players started.
Why did Nikola Jokic slam Markieff Morris to the ground?
At the eleventh hour of the game, when only two minutes were remaining, Denver star Nikola Jokie was moving forward with a solid pass and suddenly, Markieff Morris barged him and blocked his way so that he couldn’t make a successful pass.
And exactly this is what happened, the Denvar MVP failed to make the pass, and an uncontrollable spectrum of resentment grew in him. Then, failing to put a cap on his anger, Jokic shoved Markieff with his forearm which made the Mavericks player fall to the ground sharply. Moments later stretcher was brought for the injured player’s help but he got up with his own energy.
Jokic: “It’s a stupid play. I feel bad. I’m not supposed to react that way.”#MileHighBasketball @CBSDenver pic.twitter.com/PfM6E7LLAj
— Michael Spencer (@MichaelCBS4) November 9, 2021
Now, the match ended with a 113-96 victory for the Denver Nuggets, and the two players had to bear the consequence of their actions. Jokic was eliminated from the game immediately but appeared for the rest of the games of the season. On the other hand, a $50,000 fine was issued by the authority to Markieff for making a foul.
Post-match, when Jokic was about his behavior on-court during the game, he said, “I feel bad. I am not supposed to react that way, but I need to protect myself.” However, Markieff wasn’t available in the fresh hour of the scandal but later he became judgmental over Jokic’s action and shared a tweet saying, “No doubt I took a hard foul, which I always do, but I’ve never hit a man with his back turned.”
The two-time MVP did confess the foolishness that he had done on-court during the match on that day and he still regrets his action. Both of them were guilty of their actions and had to bear the brunt of their own fault through fines and elimination.
