Late in the second quarter in the Nuggets’ eventual win over the Bulls, Nikola Jokić jogged back up the floor after a missed basket (on which he was probably fouled), turned back and yelled at a referee.
Only seconds later, Jokić was assessed for a technical foul and then immediately ejected.
The situation was unique in a couple of ways. First, Joker was ejected after only one technical foul, crew chief Mark Lindsay told a pool reporter after the game. Second, and more important, the ejection happened so abruptly that it drew boos from the home crowd and criticism from the Bulls’ broadcast team. And everyone was right to be upset. Tossing the best player in the game after only one technical? Seriously?
The NBA should be very concerned by the Jokić ejection from Tuesday. Not only because it robbed the paying customers in Chicago—many of whom went to see Jokić on what was unofficially a Serbian Heritage Night for the city’s large population of Serbian expats—from watching the player they came to see, but also because it flies in the face of what the league wants to see in the regular season: competitive basketball.
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Jokić is not the only star to have been sent off with a too-quick trigger this season. It happened to Trae Young. It happened to Jayson Tatum. It even happened to Jokić earlier this year in Detroit. It’s bad for the product to have star players being thrown out because of something not even related to the game. This is not Draymond Green putting someone in a choke hold or swinging his arm into someone’s face. These are arguments between grown-ups, and there has to be a better solution.
Obviously, I am not advocating for superstars to get a free pass at berating refs to their heart’s content. Jokić reportedly said, “Call the foul, motherf---er” to the official that ejected him. That’s certainly not very nice!
The problems are context and consistency. Simply put, a referee has to be aware of something like Jokić playing in his one and only game in Chicago for the season before tossing him. The league loves to play up how much money fans spend to watch certain players when it tries to curb load management and player rest. Then that has to be the case for ejections as well. How many families paid to watch Jokić on Tuesday night? Did they get their money’s worth?
Consistency is also a problem. Some players get on refs all game and are never penalized. On some nights, certain words are an automatic ejection. On other nights, they aren’t even a technical. Both sides need to be better about establishing those boundaries. But ultimately, the refs are the ones with the power to eject, so it will always fall on them to act judiciously.
It’s very frustrating to watch these ejections happen when the league is dying for the regular season to have more meaning. In an ideal world, every one of the 82 games on every team’s schedule would be played with peak intensity. Techs aren’t necessarily always a sign of competitiveness, but they show on some level the players are caring. That’s good! Jokić wouldn’t have been arguing that call if he wasn’t trying to win. Some for Young. Same for Tatum. I think quick tech ejections are inviting players to play with less passion, and the league just spent millions on an in-season tournament to combat that.
It’s possible the league is embarrassed or frustrated by what happened Tuesday. Except nobody will ever know because no one from the league office comments really on this stuff publicly. Ultimately, the NBA has clearly put a massive emphasis on the regular season this year. From the in-season tournament to the Player Participation Policy, everything is geared to have stars on the floor and playing for something meaningful before the playoffs. If that’s the goal, then these quick ejections are hurting everyone involved.
