Following the ejection of Nuggets’ star Nikola Jokic from Denver’s Game 4 matchup with the Phoenix Suns in their Western Conference semifinal series, several athletes took to Twitter to voice their frustration with the referees’ decision. Jokic was tossed for hitting Suns’ Cameron Payne in the face while reaching for the ball.
“Playoffs. elimination game. give him a flagrant 1 and play ball man,” Grizzlies guard Ja Morant wrote on Twitter, Sunday night.
He added: “League soft.”
Hawks’ star Trae Young also said he was surprised by the call.
“A Flagrant 2?? Wow,” he tweeted.
Dustin Bradford / Getty Images
Jokic explained the play after the game, saying that he was trying to get aggressive to give his team some energy before the fourth quarter.
“I wanted to change the rhythm of the game, I wanted to give us some energy, maybe change the whistle a little bit, so I wanted to make a hard foul,” Jokic said. “Did I hit him, did I not hit him? We don’t know. So I say sorry if I did because I did not want to injure him or hit him in the head on purpose.”
“I thought honestly they would not eject me,” he added.
Check out more reactions to the ejection below.
[Via]