Nikola Jokic Unleashes 'Nasty Cheap Shot' At Markieff Morris In Ugliest Play Of Season

The Denver Nuggets star, ejected after his blindside hit, said he felt bad because Morris' "head snapped back."
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Reigning MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets blindsided the Miami Heat’s Markieff Morris with a hit from behind that jerked Morris’ head back during their NBA game on Monday. (Watch the video below.)

Morris sustained a neck injury, but was walking around in the locker room and planned to undergo the “necessary tests,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said in a tweet posted later by the Heat.

Jokic, who was ejected after the whiplash attack, admitted it was a “stupid play” and said he “felt bad” after watching Morris’s head “snap back” on the replay, ESPN reported.

One broadcaster called it “a nasty cheap shot by a great player.”

Late in the fourth quarter, Jokic appeared to foul another Heat player without a call. As he dribbled upcourt and passed the ball, Morris bumped him in the chest.

The Nuggets center retaliated as Morris’s back was to him, putting all of his 6-foot-11, 284-pound frame into a forearm thrust that knocked Morris to the floor. Jokic was ejected and so was Morris, who was assessed a flagrant foul 2.

Morris remained on the floor in obvious pain while a stretcher was summoned, but he eventually walked to the Heat locker room, the Denver Post reported.

“That was a dangerous and dirty play,” Spoelstra said, per the newspaper.

The Nuggets won the game, 113-96, but could be losing their superstar if the NBA suspends Jokic.

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