Playoff basketball brings chaos. But on Saturday night, it brought comedy too—with a dash of irony and a throwback twist.
Nikola Jokic was in no mood for stalling. Down by one. Under a minute to go. The Nuggets had a sliver of momentum, and Jokic wanted to keep it. But when the ball landed in the hands of Clippers assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy, the moment turned from urgency to absurdity.
The reigning MVP lunged for the ball, hoping to inbound it quickly and deny L.A. the chance to challenge. But Van Gundy, now 63, didn’t let go. Jokic tugged. JVG tugged back. For a few hilarious seconds, the playoff spotlight shined on a two-man wrestling match nobody saw coming.
The crowd roared. The internet exploded. And Jokic? He stayed dry as ever.
“It seems like it’s part of basketball nowadays, even though I think it’s not supposed to happen,” Jokic said postgame. “The NBA wants a quicker game. That was the emphasis when they came to us before the season. They said I can’t even take time tying my shoes anymore. But seems like [coaches] can do it.”
This wasn’t the first time Van Gundy got hands-on in a playoff game either. Long-time NBA fans instantly recalled his infamous 1998 moment, clinging to Alonzo Mourning’s leg during a Knicks-Heat brawl. Fast-forward 27 years, and the energy hasn’t changed. Old habits die hard—and apparently, so does that grip.
It was funny. It was nostalgic. But it also left people asking: how was that not a technical?
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has spent years pushing for faster, cleaner basketball—advocating for pace, flow, and fewer delays. Players have been fined for slow substitutions, warned for stalling on inbounds, and even restricted from tying their shoes mid-play. Jokic referenced those exact mandates. And yet, in the final minute of a playoff thriller, a coach physically interfered with a live ball—and received no punishment. Where’s the consistency? Therefore, Jokic’s frustration wasn’t just about the delay—it was about double standards.
Denver eventually won the challenge, Jokic got the last laugh, and the Nuggets rallied from 15 down to win 112-110 in overtime. But the irony wasn’t lost on anyone: the league’s poster boy for pace and flow had just been held up by a coach with a gorilla grip and a throwback playbook.
This is a developing story…
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