Nuggets news: Mike Malone tricked Nikola Jokic into paying his ejection fine

Denver Nuggets head coach Mike Malone was ejected for complaining about no-calls on Nikola Jokic. Then he smoothed talked his star into paying the fine.

How do you repay the coach who got ejected for you?

If you’re Nikola Jokic, you pay the man’s fine…even if he didn’t give you much of a choice.

On Wednesday night, after Mike Malone was ejected for complaining about a no-call on Jokic, the Nuggets head coach jokingly put the pressure on the star center to open up his wallet.

Malone claimed Jokic told him he’d have his back when refs sent him packing. Whether or not that’s true, Jokic is now set up to pay up.

“He threw me under the bus!” Jokic said during his portion of the media call.

He went on to credit Malone for supporting him, so clearly, this was a bit of fun between the two.

Mike Malone decided it was time to stick up for Nikola Jokic

Here’s the play that had Malone all riled up.

He was all smiles after the game, but the coach really was irate in the moment. You can read Malone’s lips pretty clearly: “That’s a f—–g disgrace.”

This outburst had been brewing for a while. Days ago, Malon was asked about his frustration with how officials were treating Jokic.

Jokic is averaging just 4.7 foul shots per game this year. Funny enough, that’s a career-high for him so far.

At least the lack of calls didn’t prevent the Nuggets from winning. Jokic led with 25 points, including just three from the foul line, as Denver grabbed the 106-96 victory over the Spurs to improve to 33-18 on the season.

With Jokic playing at an MVP level, the Nuggets are on a seven-game winning streak and sitting fourth in the West.