Only three NBA teams have shot fewer free throws than the Denver Nuggets about a quarterway through the season.
The NBA champions are not only getting a tough whistle, but now their star player is getting a minor fine for falling down after an off-balanced shot.
Late in Denver’s tight Saturday night loss to the Kings, Joker took a free throw line jumper over fellow star big man Domantas Sabonis. Sabonis was possibly wrongly assessed a foul, but it’s a play where Jokic falls over quite a bit due to the lack of a landing spot, which is supposed to be a foul in the league.
Jokic is approaching a career-high 6.4 free throw average per game. But considering that Jokic has attempted the most shots per game—nine feet and in from the rim and the most shots per game—from nine feet to five feet from the rim, this ranking—between Julius Randle and Jayson Tatum—is only 17th in the league. This isn’t quite right.
The two-time MVP trails far behind in getting to the stripe the former two-time MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo, who gets 9.9 a contest, or last year’s MVP Joel Embidd, who is shooting nearly 12 free throw attempts a game. Joker and his head coach Michael Malone have voiced their displeasure with the whistles, both getting kicked out of a game in Detriot last month.
Now Jokic is a flopper and has to pay a fine because the refs have no clue how to officiate the league’s best player. Jokic is having one of his best seasons yet, and despite missing Jamal Murray a lot early, Denver has the third-best record in the West.
The entire NBA is off on Sunday, the Nuggets return with a game in Los Angeles this week and have a road-heavy slate until Christmas.