Nuggets HC Calls Out Thunder for Brushing Aside Cheap Shot on Nikola Jokic, Calls Lu Dort’s Actions “Malicious”

It’s not often that Nikola Jokic goes full ballistic mid-game because of a foul on him but what Lu Dort did last week during Thunder vs. Nuggets crossed a line according to the Serb, and his Head Coach as well. What irked them even further was how OKC refused to understand its severity.

Dort tried tripping Jokic during a transition play, which could have severely injured him. It’s just been a few weeks since he recovered from a hyperextended knee, an injury that kept him out for 16 games. But the Thunder organization downplayed the whole ordeal, and didn’t make much of Dort’s cheap shot.

David Adelman, the Nuggets Head Coach, noted how Jokic is usually a measured figure but reached his threshold against the Thunder. He spoke on the whole situation a day and a half after the incident took place.

“There’s a point where we play these games and what he deals with nightly, anybody would react that way,” said Adelman. “And then for Dort to take that shot and then I guess it wasn’t that big of a deal from their standpoint, how they looked at it is ridiculous.”

The refs in that game did think it was a big deal though, which is why Dort was handed a flagrant two foul. That said, many, including Shaquille O’Neal felt that although it looked bad, Dort didn’t deserve the flagrant two.

Adelman, continuing, said, “That was malicious. It was a cheap shot. Lu Dort’s a great player, and that’s not what I’ve seen him do before. But at some point, you have to stand up for yourself, and the team does as well.”

With 36 hours of distance from the Nikola Jokic/Lu Dort incident, Nuggets coach David Adelman called it a cheap shot this morning and said it was “ridiculous” for OKC to not think it was a big deal. He spoke about seeing the fiery side of Nikola Jokic come out: pic.twitter.com/D1vlL4Ermv

— Bennett Durando (@BennettDurando) March 1, 2026

Jokic started a brawl right after Dort tripped him, and the Serb never looked more threatening than he did in that moment. Thankfully, he didn’t make the situation worse by throwing punches, and that shows Adelman was right about him being measured.

But in a moment like that, Jokic had to stand up for himself, and that’s exactly what he did.