Nikola Jokic Gives a Fitting Reply to Patrick Beverley’s ‘Flailing’ Comments on Luka Doncic and Him

Nikola Jokic touched the double-figure in the first quarter itself against the LA Clippers in Game 3. His vision leads to amazing facilitation and hence he remained very strong at playmaking as well.

He was two assists shy of getting a triple-double. The Nuggets were leading by four points until they lost the track in the last quarter and eventually the game.

LA Clippers’ Patrick Beverley has been very quiet with his scoring in the series. He has averaged just 6.3 points in the four games in the NBA Playoffs 2020 so far. But Bev has been very vocal otherwise. He was recently fined $25K for verbally abusing the referee in Game 2 (which they lost).

The LA Clippers guard now comments on Nikola Jokic

After winning Game 3 against the Nuggets 113-107, the LA Clippers guard remarked about Nikola Jokic. He claimed in an interview, “He presents the same thing Doncic presents, umm Luka presents. A lot of flailing. He puts a lot of pressure on the referees to make the right call.”

After discovering these allegations, Nikola Jokic was quick to respond by saying, “What is a flailing mean? They had 26 free throws, we had 10. I am just showing the ref it is a foul.”

The Nuggets recorded a total of 26 personal fouls while the Clippers had their 20. 

Bev sidelined two upcoming European players as he claimed they force refs into making calls. But he was not entirely wrong because there have been instances when the flailing has remained visible.

Flailing has plagued the NBA enduringly

There were occasions in the past when the NBA’s Commissioner, Adam Silver, was forced to come out and speak against the act of flailing. Flailing is nothing but selling of calls and it is a common practice in the NBA.

Although it is highly discouraged, we have had players like Luka Doncic involved in it. 

In Game 6 against the LA Clippers, Luka was caught on camera throwing the ball at a referee who called an offensive foul at him. He attracted a technical foul as a result.

In another match when Marcus Morris hit his hands on the Mavericks star’s shoulders trying to block him, the Slovenian got mad and the ref had to award a flagrant foul and eject Marcus Morris. 

So these things keep happening and Bev ensured that he counts them when speaking to media. The face-off between Nikola and Patrick will only get more interesting from here.