Suns owner Mat Ishbia is taking the high road after being nudged back into his seat by Nuggets center Nikola Jokic on Sunday.
The incident took place during the Suns’ 129-124 Game 4 win, tying the Western Conference semifinal series at 2-all.
Ishbia stood up from his courtside seat as Jokic attempted to retrieve a ball that had gone out of bounds. As Jokic got the ball, he gave Ishbia a push with his off forearm. Jokic received a technical foul for the confrontation. Ishbia fell harmlessly back to his chair.
“Great win for the Suns last night in an amazing series so far!” Ishbia tweeted. “That should be and is the only story. Suspending or fining anyone over last nights incident would not be right. I have alot of respect for Jokic and don’t want to see anything like that. Excited for game 5! Go Suns!”
While the NBA is certainly reviewing the incident, it would be hard for the league to justify suspending Jokic for such a pivotal game. Especially when the “victim” says the NBA should just leave well enough alone and move on.
Meanwhile, Jokic said he was surprised he received the tech in the first place.
“(Official Tony Brothers) told me I was elbowing the fan,” Jokic told reporters of why he received the technical foul, via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “But the fan put the hand on me first. So, I thought the league’s supposed to protect us or whatever, but maybe I’m wrong, so we will see.”
Jokic added on Ishbia: “He’s a fan, isn’t he? He cannot influence the game by holding the ball.”
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