LOS ANGELES — Monday night it was about basketball, the heat of Miami Heat competition at Ball Arena.
Now it seemingly is about family.
In the wake of the shove by Heat forward Markieff Morris, and then the subsequent blindside retaliatory forearm from Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, a dustup that left both ejected, brothers of the two players have lined up along family lines.
First there was Los Angeles Clippers forward Marcus Morris, twin brother of the Heat forward, taking to Twitter with, “Waited till bro turned his back smh. NOTED.”
The Clippers play the Nuggets four times this season, with those teams’ first 2021-22 meeting on Dec. 26 in Los Angeles.
Before that, the Nuggets play the second and final game of the two-game season series against the Heat on Nov. 29 at FTX Arena. Monday was the Heat’s lone visit of the season to Denver, which resulted in a 113-96 loss.
Jokic’s two brothers, both with similar builds to the 6-foot-11, 284-pound Nuggets center, took to Twitter in the wake of Marcus Morris’ post with a post of their own.
That post read: “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.”
And on it went, when Marcus Morris responding to the Jokic brothers, “You got the right ones believe that!”
And then Brothers Jokic replying, “I don’t believe…I know that!”
From there, Marcus Morris seemingly indicated a truce, posting, “Momma said don’t talk on social media no more! Well There you have it. I love you momma.”
To that post, Markieff Morris replied, “Momma knows...”
The tone of the posts from the Jokic brothers was in contrast to the somewhat contrite approach from Nikola Jokic postgame wake of the incident.
“It’s a stupid play. I feel bad,” the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player said. “I’m not supposed to react that way, but it’s in the middle of the game.”
The league in such situations not only interviews those involved in the skirmish but also monitors outside factors, such as social-media posts.
Jokic was ejected with an unsportsmanlike technical foul. Morris was ejected with a Flagrant 2 foul. Both are subject to review by the NBA, with a suspension expected to follow for Jokic.
The play in question took place with 2:39 remaining in Monday’s game and the Nuggets ahead by 17, creating question of the need for Morris to commit his foul.
A member of the Bad Boy championship Detroit Pistons, Hall of Fame guard Isiah Thomas said on NBA TV that Jokic is more than capable of standing up for himself.
“I don’t think people realize how tough he truly is. That’s no act,” Thomas said. “You see everybody ran up on him, and then they backed up off him.”
The Morris brothers will have the opportunity to plot their approach going forward, with the Heat playing the Clippers on Thursday night at Staples Center. Before that, the Heat play the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night, also at Staples Center.
The Heat declined to make players available following Monday’s game, with the team then not practicing Tuesday, again without player media availability.
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