Nikola Jokić sticks to his comments on booing fans: ‘I think they are not the real fans’ as the Nuggets lose to the Warriors

Nikola Jokić was asked on Monday night whether he wanted to take back what he said about the fans who booed the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. He did not. “I just said what I said. I’m sticking to what I said,” Jokić said after a 134-114 home loss to the Golden State Warriors.

On Saturday, after Denver came back from 23 points down to beat New Orleans in overtime, Jokić said the fans who booed the home opener “don’t need to come anymore” and were “not welcome anymore.” On Monday he said he had played in much worse environments, from crowds of a few dozen people to arenas with thousands, and that booing his own team was something new to him.

“I’m not used to it, that fans are booing their own team,” he said. Asked whether fans in Europe only boo the other team, he said: “I never heard that. I mean, probably they are, but I think they are not the real fans.”

Jokić’s full answer about the boos, posted by DNVR Nuggets on X.

No boos, just silence

There were few boos this time. Golden State, 0-3 coming in, shot 22-of-44 from three and led by 21 when David Adelman emptied his bench with 3:33 left. The crowd was mostly quiet, and some fans left early in a game that started late. Jokić had 19 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists on 8-of-18 shooting in 35 minutes and was minus-16. Murray also had 19, and DeMar DeRozan led Denver with 21 off the bench.

The frustration showed most with Aaron Gordon. With 8:34 left and Denver down 108-91, Christian Braun was called for an illegal screen, which was his fifth foul. Gordon kept arguing, got two quick technical fouls and was ejected. He finished with seven points on 2-of-10 shooting.

Gordon’s two technical fouls and ejection, posted by MrBuckBuck on X.

‘It’s just natural as a human being’

Jamal Murray said twice that the Warriors were playing very hard. When he was asked why Denver did not match that urgency, he pushed back. “Well, it’s just natural as a human being when you’re 0-3, you’re fighting for your life,” Murray said. “It’s not that we decided to not play hard, brother. They just won the game.”

Adelman saw it differently. He said Golden State did not beat Denver in the paint, where the Warriors scored 42 points, but on kick-out threes after Denver’s switching broke down. He said a lineup with Gordon and rookie Trevon Brazile “is not a lineup that scrambles well.”

“The other stuff is just unacceptable,” Adelman said. “I don’t care if our guys are rookies or whatever it is, or played in the league for 15 years. You have to put your hands on people if you want to have a chance. We didn’t do that.”

Denver is 1-2, and its only win needed a 23-point comeback. The Nuggets play at New Orleans on Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET, which is 3 a.m. Thursday in Cairo, and then at Phoenix.