Referee Tony Brothers Explains Reasoning Behind Technical Foul on Nikola Jokic
Tony Brothers #TonyBrothers
Following the Phoenix Suns’ 129-124 win against the Denver Nuggets in Game 4, basketball was not the only topic of conversation.
After a ball went out of play in the second quarter, Nikola Jokic tried grabbing it from Suns owner Mat Ishbia – ultimately shoved him leading to a technical foul.
“The ball went over into the corner there and one of the fans was holding the ball,” referee Tony Brothers said, explaining the altercation. “Jokic came to get the ball, grabbed it away from the fan, then after that he deliberately gave him a shove and pushed him down, so he was issued an unsportsmanlike technical foul.”
Brothers felt that a technical foul on Jokic was absolutely necessary.
“I just deemed the technical foul the appropriate penalty for what happened over there,” Brothers said. “He didn’t just run over and hit a fan. There was some engagement, so I deemed the technical foul the appropriate penalty.”
Jokic’s availability for Game 5 on Tuesday is in jeopardy as a suspension is still on the table for his incident with Ishbia. The Nuggets would surely miss Jokic’s 36.5 points, 14 rebounds and 9.5 assists that he has been averaging during the first four games of this series.
Jokic feels that his technical foul was unfair and that the players should be protected more.
“I thought the league was supposed to protect us or whatever, but maybe I’m wrong. We will see,” Jokic said on the incident.
The consequences of this incident could be a game-changer and potentially series altering. Game 5 will be played Tuesday night at 7:00 PM PST in Denver.