This Week in the NBA: Darko Rajakovic's epic rant, shots at the Warriors, Nikola Jokic reforming Pistons fans

Stephen Noh

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This Week in the NBA: Darko Rajakovic's epic rant, shots at the Warriors, Nikola Jokic reforming Pistons fans image

Welcome to another This Week in the NBA, where we run down all of the weird and funny things that happened over the week in the NBA Twitter and other social media streets.

There were plenty of jokes fired off, headlined by a rant against the referees that became an instant classic.

Let's get started.

MORE: Why you shouldn't be surprised by Wemby's triple-double

The quote of the week: Darko Rajakovic goes off

The runner-up for quote of the week goes to Gregg Popovich, who was asked how the Spurs could stop the Cavs' premier passing during pregame media availability. His answer, via Jackson Flickinger, was classic Pop. 

"Oh, we probably won't. I can give you some bulls— if you want." 

Pop was right — his Spurs kept it close but gave up 117 points and 27 assists in a loss. 

The winner, though, can only go to one man: Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic, whose diatribe towards the refs earned him a $25,000 fine and a video edit set to Nas' classic 90's diss track "Ether." 

MORE: Is Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic right about Lakers referee bias?

You know that you've officially been accepted when Drake calls you a GUYZER. Raptors fans were firing off their own memes after the game, too. 

Honorable mention goes to Thunder coach Mark Daigneault, whose Thunder team crushed the Blazers by 62 points on Thursday. He was asked afterward about trying to break the 73-point margin of victory record that the Thunder were on the wrong end of in Memphis two years ago.

His response? “That’s our record.”

MORE: Where OKC's historic rout ranks among biggest blowouts in NBA history

 

The Warriors are cooked

It's been a rough year for the Warriors, who are 17-20 heading into their matchup on Friday. They got booed by their home fans during their 36-point blowout loss to the Pelicans. Steve Kerr said afterward that his team had lost its spirit, confidence and belief.

But it's been a great year for the Warriors haters. X user @MaskedAntler went off on Draymond Green, who is set to return from his indefinite suspension soon.

Klay Thompson's been in the middle of the worst year of his career. He got roasted as well. 

MORE: This Dejounte Murray trade would fix the Warriors and Hawks

Pray for Marcus Smart

Marcus Smart has worn No. 36 for his whole career. That led to an unfortunate comparison on social media, via @hoopfiends.

Marcus Smart Year
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The guy can't catch a break this year. He was traded from the prohibitive championship favorite, ended up on a team that has almost no chance of making the playoffs and recently suffered a finger injury that will keep him out for the next six weeks.

Might I suggest Hawks legend Rasheed Wallace instead? 

Nikola Jokic breaks Pistons Reddit

Jokic only took three shots and played under 25 minutes against the Pistons on Sunday. But he did have 16 assists and five blocks in a 17-point win. 

Let's check in with Pistons Reddit's reaction, via X user @thats_t__:

Pistons Reddit on Jokic
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Being a fan of the Pistons does have some unexpected advantages, aside from the free wings every couple of months. 

Emma Stone waving goodbye to Grayson Allen?

Stone was spotted at Thursday's Lakers-Suns game in Los Angeles, waving goodbye to a Suns player on the bench. NBA Reddit was abuzz with the idea that it was Grayson Allen. 

Less hilariously, it was actually Devin Booker that Stone was saying goodbye to. She's a native of Arizona and a supporter of the state's sports teams.

Booker and Kevin Durant seem to be fans — they both posted photos of Stone wearing a Suns hat on their Instagram accounts. 

The Social Media Manager troll game

The people who run social media accounts for NBA teams have become masters of the subtle troll. The Bucks' account was on fire this week. 

It started when Giannis Antetokounmpo ripped into his team, telling The Athletic's Eric Nehm that “everybody has to be better. Everybody. It starts from the equipment manager. He has to wash our clothes better.”

The Bucks' account responded with this tweet before they took on the Jazz:

The Jazz took it one step further, tweeting this after beating them that night:

The Bucks did get the last laugh of the week, dunking on a bad Charles Barkley take after blowing out the Celtics 135-102. The game was so out of hand that the TNT broadcast had to switch off it in the third quarter.

This has been your week in the NBA.

Stephen Noh

Stephen Noh Photo

Stephen Noh started writing about the NBA as one of the first members of The Athletic in 2016. He covered the Chicago Bulls, both through big outlets and independent newsletters, for six years before joining The Sporting News in 2022. Stephen is also an avid poker player and wrote for PokerNews while covering the World Series of Poker from 2006-2008.