Nikola Jokic is quite possibly the best basketball player in the NBA right now. He’s a three-level scorer who’s made multiple All-NBA First Teams, won 3 MVP awards, an NBA championship, and has been a 7-time All-Star. Yet somehow, in the prime of his career, the Serbian star has allegedly been body-shamed.
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Yes, we’re talking about a player here that LeBron James has basically called a complete talent, and for good reason. And while Jokic has been called ‘fat’ before in his career, he’s made noticeable changes to his physique since then, and it shows.
So, it felt a little strange to see the star center’s body become a talking point again as the Nuggets thrashed the Phoenix Suns 130-112 earlier this week.
Eddie Johnson, NBA veteran and Phoenix Suns color analyst, was allegedly the culprit. He was heard saying, “It’s hard to know how tall Joker is because he’s so wide.”
Now, to be fair to Johnson, it doesn’t seem like he was actually calling Jokic fat. But that’s what the internet heard, and fans on social media felt the remark was not only unnecessary but also a bit of a passive-aggressive jab from the Suns announcer.
“That ‘wide’ guy is better than any player that’s ever graced a Suns uniform,” said a clearly annoyed Nuggets fan. “Sun announcer was hurt by that width considering that he is not used to that caliber, poor thing, I hope he recovers,” added another.
Some personal remarks were also thrown at Johnson for his comments. “That’s Eddie Johnston. A notorious Jokic hater. Because Jokic is 1 million times the player he ever was,” noted another Twitter user.
At this point, Johnson had to respond, and he did. He claimed, however, that he never intended to body-shame the Serbian star.
“I did not call Jokic Fat, you did. He is in excellent shape for his size. Wide is an athletic term. Stoopy. It was a compliment to how deceiving his height is. You water boys make me laugh,” he tweeted.
I did not call Jokic Fat you did. He is in excellent shape for his size. Wide is an athletic term. Stoopy. It was a compliment to how decieving his height is. You water boys make me laugh. https://t.co/Y71uBOI6nW
— Eddie A Johnson (@Jumpshot8) November 30, 2025
In hindsight, the response might have been a mistake, because now, Johnson has been accused of giving in to ragebait.
“Letting BrickCenter get under your skin says more about you than anything,” commented an observer under Johnson’s tweet. There’s just no winning against the internet.
And as far as Jokic and his physique go, he uses it to great advantage. Sure, he’s explosive, but he has got exceptional strength and balance and uses it to dictate the pace on the court. He’s so methodical that even LeBron has had to acknowledge his greatness.
“There’s nothing he cannot do on the offensive end, like nothing at all. Nothing. You try to double him, he’s going to make you pay, you try to play him single coverage, he’s going to make you pay. He even brings the ball up the floor, they outlet the ball to him,” the 4-time NBA champion told Steve Nash earlier this week.
So, fat or wide or anything else in between, it seems to be working more than just fine for Jokic. He’s not complaining, and neither are the Nuggets faithful.
