NBA gives Nikola Jokic a fine for flopping against Kings

Only three NBA teams have shot fewer free throws than the Denver Nuggets about a quarterway through the season.

The NBA champions are not only getting a tough whistle, but now their star player is getting a minor fine for falling down after an off-balanced shot. Late in Denver’s tight Saturday night loss to the Kings, Nikola Jokic took a free throw line jumper over fellow star big man Domantas Sabonis. Sabonis was possibly wrongly assessed a foul, but it’s a play where Jokic falls over quite a bit due to the lack of a landing spot, which is supposed to be a foul in the league.

READ MORE FROM SACTOWN SPORTS: Fox & Monk combine for 52 points as Kings top Nuggets

DEN’s Nikola Jokic was assessed a postgame Flopping fine of $2,000 upon league office review for https://t.co/zfNWRhTIw7 on Dec. 2 vs. SAC.

— NBA Official (@NBAOfficial) December 3, 2023

Jokic is shooting 6.4 free throws a game, pacing for a career-high. However, this mark is only 17th in the league between Jayson Tatum, and Julius Randle, which doesn’t sit completely right when considering Jokic has taken the ninth-most shots per game in the league five feet and in from the basket and the most shots per game nine feet to five feet from the rim.

The two-time MVP trails far behind in getting to the stripe the former two-time MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo, who gets 9.9 a contest, or last year’s MVP Joel Embidd, who is shooting nearly 12 free throw attempts a game. Joker and his head coach Michael Malone have voiced their displeasure with the whistles, both getting kicked out of a game in Detriot last month.

Now Nikola Jokic is a flopper and has to pay a fine because the refs have no clue how to officiate the league’s best player. Jokic is having one of his best seasons yet, and despite missing Jamal Murray a lot early, Denver has the third-best record in the West.

The entire NBA is off on Sunday, the Nuggets return with a game in Los Angeles this week and have a road-heavy slate until Christmas.

This story was first published by Sactown Sports‘ sister station, Denver Sports. Thank you for reading sactownsports.com. Follow us on Twitter, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.