Morris-Jokic siblings’ family feud just got very interesting
The scene: A second-floor arena office of Heat president Pat Riley is dimly lit. The shades are drawn. The godfather leans back in a leather chair behind his polished desk, fingers tented.
There is a soft knock on the door. Riley slowly leans forward. The two men summoned enter and stand before the desk.
Riley slides two small cards across gleaming mahogany, like a poker player showing aces.
Small smiles are discreet on grim faces as the men take a card. Each is blank but for a date stamped in dark red the color of dried blood:
November 29.
Eyes meet. Almost imperceptibly, the godfather nods.
A familiar scowl grows on Alonzo Mourning’s face and the calloused hands of Udonis Haslem ball into fists as both men turn and leave.
No words were ever
So Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, reigning NBA MVP, got the wrist-slap punishment from the league Tuesday night, a token onegame suspension for the hard, cowardly shove from behind that sent the Heat’s Markieff Morris crashing to the hardwood one night earlier.
Morris was fined $50,000 for the initial foul that led to Jokic’s blindside retaliation, and Miami teammate Jimmy Butler was fined 30K for “escalation” by jawing at Jokic so vehemently he had to be restrained.
(Had I been in charge of the script for this basketball drama, Butler would have theatrically thrown at Jokic a paper cup filled with Big Face coffee.)
Athletes and teams famously carry grudges, holding onto them dearly, storing them like squirrels do nuts for the winter. Asked the mood of his team after Jokic betrayed every tenet of sportsmanship and manliness by shoving another man from behind, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said:
“The video and picture is worth a
thousand words.”
On Nov. 29 the Heat and Nuggets, instant enemies, meet again, this time in Miami.
It will be delicious. It may turn ugly. There will be not so much a playoff atmosphere as a prizefight atmosphere.
And I’m not even talking about the likely tension on the court.
See, this has become about family. It’s personal. The brothers are involved and — uh-oh — they are exchanging menacing looks and lobbing veiled threats across Twitter!
Miami, relentlessly competitive under the aegis of Riley and Spoelstra, is really good this season.
The soap opera side show is just a bonus. But a welcome one.
My ultimate daydream for this season — and based on early form it’s plausible — is that Miami and Utah meet in the
NBA Finals and Dwyane
Wade is seen driving to Game 1 down Dwyane Wade Boulevard (a.k.a. Biscayne), top down and wearing a Jazz hat and a big grin.
And then watching as Wade, Heat icon-turnedJazz part owner, attempts to sit on both sides of the arena at the same time.
Until that happens, we’ll take Nov. 29, thank you.
Jokic, the villain in our drama, has shown contrition. That night he called his shove “a stupid play,” and added, “I feel bad.”
These words are not incendiary. They are closer to a Hallmark card. There are indications
Jokic makes a lousy villain. Likewise there are no early indications of a sinister revenge plot by Morris.
That’s where the bothers come in! We’re counting on you, bros. The countdown to Nov. 29 has only just begun.
In this corner: Twin brother Marcus Morris.
Jokic had Markieff’s back — but to shove it violently. Marcus has his back in the protective, metaphorical sense. That night he tweeted @MookMorris2: Waited til bro turned his back smh NOTED [Delightfully, the all-caps NOTED was embellished by the emoji of a hand with a pen making a note].
Hours later, after an apparent admonishment, Marcus tweeted, Momma said don’t talk on social media no more! Well there you have it. I love you, momma.
The restraint didn’t last. An hour later Shannon Sharpe tweeted, Jokic was well within his right to protect himself.
To which (sorry, Momma) Marcus replied, Man shut your drunk ass up.
Yes! More, please.
And in this corner: the Jokic brothers, Nikola’s older siblings Strahinja and Nemanja.
(Quick aside: the Jokic brothers, both behemoths, look like villains cast in a 1970s James Bond film. Or bodyguards for Serbian president Alekesandar Vucic. Kidding aside, Strahinja pleaded guilty in February 2020 to seconddegree assault for choking and pushing a woman. With Strahinja and Nemanja,
you do not mess.)
So, somewhere in Serbia (or perhaps Denver), the bros got word what Morris’ brother had tweeted about their brother. And they created a Twitter account (@JokicBrothers) to respond. The Denver Post confirmed this. Strahinja and Nemanja joined the Twittersphere solely to escalate the beef.
In less than two days they have more than 50,000 followers. Including Adrian Wojnarowski.
The first tweet, to Marcus Morris:
You should leave this the way it is instead of publicly threatening our brother! Your brother made a dirty play first. If you want to make a step further be sure we will be waiting for you!! Jokic Brothers.
(Bonus points for a tweet from @JokicBrothers erasing all doubt by signing the tweet, Jokic Brothers.)
It is soon. But I cannot get here soon enough.
Nov. 29. Jokic-Morris II.