Nikola Jokic had every right to big-man Markieff Morris

(Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images and denver.cbslocal)

In case you missed it, earlier this week reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and Miami Heat’s newest signee Markeiff Morris got into quite the on-court scuffle.

The incident resulted in a one-game suspension for Jokic and a $50,000 fine for Morris, and Jimmy Butler was also fined $30,000 for attempting to escalate the altercation, per the Athletic.

I could describe the play in detail all I want, but words won’t do this beauty justice:

If you’ve read any of my previous work or listened to the Going The Distance Podcast, chances are you know I’m a Miami Heat fan. Regardless of my fandom, Nikola Jokic is 100% right in this situation.

Jokic is the reigning MVP, the “biggest baddest” dude on the court, and he’s in front of a home crowd; no shot he’s going to let Morris bitch him like that. You can say Jokic’s hit was dirty all you want, because it was, but the fact of the matter is Morris initiated the altercation for no real reason.

Was he angry the Heat were losing? Was he trying to get back at the Nuggets for their spicy history with his brother, Marcus? Whatever he was thinking, it was dumb.

In the grand scheme of things, this was extremely petty. The game was already over and Denver was up by 17 with less than three minutes left. There’s never really a time for this, but this is the type of shit I want to see in game 7 of a playoff series, not the 10th game of the regular season.

Jokic reacted the way a lot of us at home would. You’re telling me if someone unnecessarily charges you, you’re not going to hit them back? It’s basic animal instinct. You hit me I hit you, end of story.

Clearly I have a strong opinion about who was in the right vs wrong in this scenario, but I can’t quite decide how I feel about the punishments. The league is acting as if Jokic’s one-game suspension was the harshest punishment of the two, but frankly I would much rather have an extra night of rest during a meaningless regular-season game rather than coughing up 50 Gs.