Why was Nikola Jokic ejected? Bulls crowd boos refs for tossing Nuggets star on Serbian Night

Edward Sutelan

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Why was Nikola Jokic ejected? Bulls crowd boos refs for tossing Nuggets star on Serbian Night image

Chicago has a large Serbian population, and fans came out to watch the country's biggest star play against the Bulls. They got only 16 minutes of him before he was thrown out.

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic was ejected after just 16 minutes on the court, with his ejection coming with 1:08 left to play in the second quarter. He finished the game going 2-for-5 from the field, with four points, nine rebounds and six assists.

It was Serbian Heritage Night at the United Center in Chicago, a city that features the largest Serbian population in the United States. When Jokic, whose Nuggets faced the Bulls for the second time in the 2023-24 season, was ejected, the crowd erupted in boos as the opposing team's best player left the court.

The ejection was stunning, as it was only Jokic's first technical foul of the night and it came without prior warning.

Why was Jokic ejected? Here's what you need to know.

MORE: Complete history of Draymond Green's suspensions

Why was Nikola Jokic ejected vs. Bulls?

In a pool report following the game, crew chief Mark Lindsay explained that Jokic's ejection stemmed from his use of profanity directed at an official. He described the language as meeting standards that "warranted an ejection."

Lindsay was asked several times why Jokic was ejected after just one technical foul and continued to respond by repeating, "Jokic was ejected after one technical foul," adding he would not elaborate on what language was strong enough to merit the harsh penalty.

"We don't typically publicly get into exactly what a player said, but the language reached the standard for an ejection," Lindsay said.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after the game that Jokic's ejection caught him by surprise.

"I think everybody was surprised it was a one-tech toss," Malone said. "Again, I didn't hear exactly what was said. Unfortunate, but we won the game and that's all that matters."

As was pointed out on X (formerly Twitter), the official who tossed Jokic, Mousa Dagher, has a bit of a history with throwing out players a bit early.

Back in the 2022-23 season, Dagher assessed Clippers star Kawhi Leonard with a technical foul after Leonard complained about a no-call, then within a few seconds, assessed two technicals to Terance Mann, ejecting Mann from the game.

In calling the sequence, broadcaster Mike Fratello used similar language to that used in the call of Jokic's ejection, saying that the crowd did not come to the game to watch an official.

In January, Dagher was also involved in the ejection of Heat star Jimmy Butler, who, like Jokic, was said to have directed profane language at the official.

What did Nikola Jokic say to officials?

Jokic reportedly kept his response to officials concise. According to ESPN, Jokic said, "Call the foul, motherf—r."

"I think sometimes what I said is not even a technical," Jokic said after the game, per The Athletic's Darnell Mayberry. "So it is what it is. I crossed the line. But sometimes that word doesn't cross the line."

Chicago Serbian population

Outside of Serbia, no country has a larger Serb population than Chicago.

According to Go Speak Serbian, Chicago is considered the Second Serbian Capital with 300,000 Serbs living in it, larger than the second-largest city in Serbia, Novi Sad. Only Serbia's capital, Belgrade (1.5 million) has a larger Serbian population.

"It's the second-biggest Serbian population here," Jokic, who is from Sombor, Serbia, said after the game, per ESPN. "Belgrade [Serbia] is the first, and Chicago is the second. So, maybe they came to see me."

Edward Sutelan

Edward Sutelan Photo

Edward Sutelan joined The Sporting News in 2021 after covering high school sports for PennLive. Edward graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019, where he gained experience covering the baseball, football and basketball teams. Edward also spent time working for The Columbus Dispatch and Cape Cod Times.