This article is satire. Some of the quotes are not real, and actual quotes are linked. Please consider that before reacting to this post. Thank you to Broderick Turner of the LA Times for the inspiration.
ORLANDO, Fla. – The Denver Nuggets have presented a case to the NBA that their star, Nikola Jokic, who was recently voted as the best true center in the NBA, is not nearly getting his fair share of free throws even though they are positive the soft-spoken center is getting fouled plenty by the Los Angeles Lakers in their Western Conference finals playoff series.
Jokic shot just two free throws during the Game Three victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night at AdventHealth Arena. And two of those free throws came after a hard foul in the first quarter, which is the exact same number of rebounds that All-NBA First-Team forward/center Anthony Davis had in the entire game.
He has shot 23 free throws total in the three games of the best-of-seven series that resumes Thursday night with Game 4 and the Lakers leading 2-1.
“We’re dealing with the fouls through the proper channels with the league,” coach Michael Malone told the media through heavy sobs via videoconference Wednesday after a team practice. “I think he’s gone to the basket very aggressively, he’s rebounded the ball 22 times, and he’s set a million screens, and I’ll just leave it at that.”
In 17 playoff games, Jokic is averaging 4.5 free throw attempts per game, making 82.9% of them. He’s averaging 25.2 points per game, 10.2 rebounds and 5.9 assists, according to Basketball Reference.
The Nuggets have had their share of issues with the referees in this series against the Lakers.
Jamal Murray was called for a flagrant foul trying to spin away from a moving screen set by LeBron James, and Jokic had to deal with foul trouble after two questionable offensive fouls in Game One after the Lakers went to the free throw line 25 times in the second quarter.
When asked about it following Game One, Murray had this to say about the officiating.
“The calls aren’t always going to go your way, and you can’t complain about it, I tried to learn that as a young player, and you just got to play through it. [The referees are] not trying to make the wrong call.”
The Nuggets star center has had to deal with “juvenile taunts” and goon style play from well-known fart aficionado Dwight Howard, who was run off of three teams because of the negative impact he made in the locker room and his declining, selfish play.
Yahoo Sports reporter Chris Haynes shared that Howard used an obscene remark towards an official that prompted a response of, “Hey, cut that out now! Are you serious? I’ve heard that twice now. Twice. Cut it out now!”
There is no official word yet from the league if they will respond to the Nuggets complaints. When pressed for a comment, a league source said “what are you going to do, not watch Space Jam 2? Get real.”
Meanwhile, the Lakers star forward, LeBron James, has a different opinion on what lead to the young Nuggets win in the last game.
“They played better than us, more aggressive than us through three quarters, 36 minutes, but you know, we’ve got into the penalty in the third quarter with, like, nine-and-a-half minutes to go and we had some turnovers that led to some easy buckets for them. We had 16 turnovers for 25 points and put them to the line 29 times. It’s not going to be winning ingredients for us if we continue to do that.”
With the referees so blatantly favoring one team, only time will tell what the outcome of Game 4 will be.
