The aftermath of the Nikola Jokic and Jaden McDaniels moment at the end of Game 4 between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets has settled, but it is still worth unpacking. If you missed it, McDaniels broke one of basketball’s quiet codes. When the game is decided and the clock is bleeding out, you do not go hunting for an easy bucket.
That is exactly what he did.
After a dominant showing at the Target Center that pushed Minnesota to a 3-1 series lead, McDaniels finished a late layup to make
it 112-96. Nikola Jokic did not appreciate it. He sprinted down the floor and let McDaniels hear about it, and that is when things escalated.
No punches. Nothing out of control. Still, it crossed the line enough for Jokic and Julius Randle to get tossed with 1.2 seconds left. Why did Jokic take exception to this? “Because he scored when everybody stopped playing,” he said in his post-game presser.
Today, the fines came out following the altercation. $50,000 for Jokic, $35,000 for Randle. But no suspensions, despite players coming off of the bench.
So why no suspensions? Why does everyone suit up for Game 5?
You know where this goes. The precedent is there. Go back to the 2007 Western Conference Semifinals when Robert Horry hip checked Steve Nash into the boards late in Game 4. The league suspended Amar’e Stoudemire and Boris Diaw. They were not in the altercation. They simply stepped over the white line, which was enough for then-commissioner David Stern to enforce accountability for “leaving the bench” and ensure that this game, which is ever so sacred, was not violated by the abhorrent act of stepping over a line after one of your players gets unnecessarily thrown into the boards at the end of the game.
Here’s the video, which is extremely hard to find on the ‘ole internet despite it being a precedent-defining moment.
That is the history.
But hey, perhaps I’m just a scornful Suns fan. Maybe the national conversation has no appetite for hearing it again after this series with Oklahoma City and the noise around officiating. Maybe every fan base feels this when they are on the wrong end of enforcement. It can start to feel personal.
The rules are the rules. Or at least they are supposed to be. I am not pounding the table, asking for suspensions here. I am filing it away. Noting how some things get applied in one moment and not in another.
Game 5 between the Timberwolves and Nuggets is tomorrow at 7:30pm. Tune in. And watch all the players play.
