Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic received a $25,000 fine for using derogatory and offensive language during a postgame interview after his team’s 108-107 overtime victory over the Chicago Bulls. When discussing rookie Wendell Carter Jr., who scored a career-high 25 points on 9-for-21 shooting against the Nuggets, Jokic commented on his 6-foot-10 frame by claiming that the Duke product is "longer than you expect." That's no big deal, but before uttering those words, the Joker started off his comment by muttering the antiquated phrase "no homo," which is where he went wrong.
Jokic, who hails from Serbia, joined the Nuggets after being drafted with the 41st overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. While the league considers his remark to be under the umbrella term of "derogatory and offensive language" it's simply something that shouldn't be uttered when you reach a certain level of maturity.
Jokic finally got dinged for his post-game comment in which he sai (paraphrasing) "no homo, but Wendell Carter Jr is a lot longer than I thought." pic.twitter.com/J7VREKXnt6
Jokic is only 23 years old, but that shouldn't excuse him for failing to understand that he represents his team and the league. Plus, why is that phrase still relevant? If you’re talking about someone being "longer than you expect," and you're actually concerned about what people think, then you could follow it up by saying, "you know what I mean." Or, you could just make that remark, and let the Internet do what it always does. At least, in the latter scenario, Jokic would be $25,000 richer.
