You know it’s the offseason because apparently, we’re bringing back stories from years ago that should have faded away by now. But that’s exactly what happened on The Big Podcast with Shaq. O’Neal had Markieff Morris on the show and brought up his incident with Nikola Jokic from years ago.
Morris repeatedly said it was a “cheap shot” for Jokic to come up and hit him from behind after the play. Shaq toed the line a bit, goading Morris without ever really agreeing or disagreeing with his take, but Morris didn’t back down at all.
The ridiculous part of this conversation is that the “incident” happened back in 2021, and Morris admits that it started with his hard foul on Jokic. He takes exception because he turned his back and walked away, then Jokic ran up and hit him from behind.
What Morris fails to explain is why he would turn his back on an incident that he just instigated. Sure, hitting someone from behind is a bad look, and Jokic has admitted as much, stating that he shouldn’t have reacted that way, but Morris won’t let it go.
He continues bringing this up every chance he gets and has reiterated that it’s a cheap shot and talked down on Jokic time and again.
Morris’ career was never the same after incident
It’s understandable that Morris still holds a grudge; he suffered a neck injury and missed 58 games. He latched onto a few teams as an end-of-bench guy, but never had another meaningful moment in the NBA.
But frankly, he was already trending in this direction, and the foul he committed on Jokic was emblematic of the type of player he had become. He was trying to impact the game with tough, borderline dirty play. He took a shot at a superstar, then didn’t want to stay and defend himself.
He egged Jokic on and made a dangerous play, then acted aggrieved when the Joker responded in kind. It’s sad that we are still talking about this, but it’s really all that Morris has to talk about at this point. He’s clinging to his last notable moment for better or worse.
At the same time, we haven’t seen many similar incidents involving Jokic in recent years. Whether intended or not, this moment and the ensuing reaction from his brothers seem to have sent the message around the league not to mess with Nikola.