“Bulls**t What Mat Ishbia Did”: JJ Redick Minces No Words While Attacking Suns’ Owner Despite his Attempt to Fix Squabble with Nikola Jokic

Former NBA player JJ Reddick became the latest to come out in support of Nikola Jokic after his technical foul in game 4 against the Phoenix Suns. Jokic had attempted to retrieve the ball from none other than Mat Ishbia, who had initially grabbed it. The Nuggets’ big man then tried to retrieve it, which pushed Ishbia back towards his chair. The tussle started a heated debate in the NBA community that has unsurprisingly spilled over to the world of podcasts.

After Jokic threw the elbow, the referee responded by giving the former MVP a technical foul for “elbowing a fan.” With speculation about a potential suspension making rounds, JJ Reddick claimed on his ‘The Old Man and Three‘ Podcast that The Joker does not deserve a suspension for his antics.

Nikola Jokic gets support from JJ Reddick

Since the incident, Mat Ishbia has been ridiculed by a number of critics and analysts. This includes Shaquille O’Neal, who thought that Ishbia had tried to “flop” and made the most out of the contact. Charles Barkley claimed that any other fan who would have grabbed the ball like Ishbia would have been “tossed.”

Nikola Jokić shouldn’t be suspended for his interaction with Mat Ishbia pic.twitter.com/eg1laZZkdu

— TheOldMan&TheThree (@OldManAndThree) May 8, 2023

JJ Reddick seemed to have a similar opinion while speaking on his podcast, “The Old Man and the Three.” The former Orlando Magic and Clippers player claimed that Jokic was not the instigator, and does not deserve to be suspended for another game:

“I don’t think he should be suspended. I thought it was bulls**t what (Mat) Ishbia said. I think it will be bulls**t if any fan did that. Again, Jokic was not being the instigator, give the f**king players the ball, you are not part of the game. I think he embellished it, all that stuff, like, you cant make contact with a fan, you cant make contact with an official, I get all that s**t, but not the instigator. So, my worry is, oh, we are going to go on prior history, they gonna go on Draymond, or be like, ohh, this is like Jokic’s third thing or whatever. And that’s what worries me. I don’t think he should be suspended.”

Mat Ishbia has “a lot of respect” for Jokic

While Ishbia has been accused of trying to make the most out of the situation, the Suns’ owner claimed on Twitter that he does not want Jokic to be suspended. The 43-year-old also said that he had the utmost respect for Joker and was looking forward to game 5.

Just as Draymond Green was arguably unfairly suspended recently, Jokic finds himself in hot water especially if the NBA decides to apply a similar threshold on him. The Warriors-Kings series was also in a delicate position when the NBA decided to suspend Green for a match.

Great win for the Suns last night in an amazing series so far!
That should be and is the only story. Suspending or fining anyone over last nights incident would not be right. I have alot of respect for Jokic and don’t want to see anything like that. Excited for game 5! Go Suns!

— Mat Ishbia (@Mishbia15) May 8, 2023

However, unlike the Warriors who found enough to get past the Sacramento Kings in round 1, it is unclear if the Denver Nuggets will be able to shake off a potential Jokic absence in the crucial game 5. He is, after all, their only All-Star, and is against a team that is stacked with some of the best offensive talent available in the NBA.