Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
By Robert O'Neill on

For the second time this season, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was ejected after getting two technical fouls for arguing.

Near the end of the first half of Denver’s 114-106 win over the Chicago Bulls, Jokic thought he was fouled going to the basket, but the referee didn’t make a call.

Jokic argued as he went back up the court and was given two technical fouls in rapid succession, leading to the ejection.

Bulls announcers Adam Amin and Stacey King blasted the officials for the quick trigger, with Amin saying, “The people didn’t come to see the officials, let’s be honest, they came to see the players.”

Amin’s comments were very similar to those made by Detroit Pistons play-by-play man George Blaha when Jokic was ejected for arguing in Denver’s 107-103 win on November 20.

Generally, a player gets a warning before the second technical or at the very least a cooldown period. Jokic didn’t seem to be afforded that which is surprising for any NBA player, let alone a two-time MVP.

Fans on social media were critical of the referees.

One fan said, “No one came to a Chicago Bulls game in the year of our lord 2023 to see the visiting best player on the planet to get ejected in the 2nd quarter.”

Another said, “The NBA: You can’t keep your best players out, we will keep them out for you.”

Another made a great point, saying, “You know it’s bad when the home team is booing the officials for ejecting a player on the opposing team. Absolutely awful.”

Another bashed the league as a whole, saying, “It’s so stupid how the NBA is pushing so hard against load management, but ejecting their players for stuff like this, make the decision on if you care about stars playing or not”

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