Nikola Jokic is done yelling at refs: ‘I don’t even think about them. It’s great.’

HOUSTON Nikola Jokic is determined to make this his season of zen No more animated arguments with the agents No more pleading for calls No more of those exasperated full-body reactions to the whistle those classic images of a -pound man tightly wound up his arms and neck shrinking into his torso his palms facing the ceiling in bewilderment his eyes bugging out Nope no more of that Jokic is chill with the referees now He s a go-with-the-flow kind of guy That s my new thing this year he says I m not gonna get stressed or yell at the refs or whatever I m just gonna try to comport my potency to the basketball place Jokic has waged a sparse wars against NBA officiating crews He has career technical fouls and nine ejections He has made it clear in the past that he believes smaller players are allowed to get away with grabbing and shoving him an inordinate amount He once received a rare one-tech ejection in Chicago for uttering a profanity that is considered fairly mundane in the context of professional sports an event so exceptional that the opposing fans jeered the refs for depriving them of a superstar performance But the three-time MVP insists to be turning over a new leaf now I feel so much better out there he disclosed this week I don t even think about them It s great An exception to the rule Jokic is not forbidden from gesturing to Nuggets coach David Adelman when he thinks a challenge is warranted If a tangible and productive upshot can be achieved by refuting a call then it s not a waste of vitality in Jokic s view He even signaled for a challenge one second into Denver s competition in New Orleans this week after the opening jump ball was batted directly out of bounds by the Pelicans but was initially ruled to be last touched by Jokic Other than that he s trying to shut up and play the battle Unfortunately for his new coach that could mean heightened responsibility as a surrogate agitator Yeah he s in a better mood and I m in a worse mood and it cost me whatever it cost me the other night Adelman joked referring to a technical foul he picked up Monday when the Nuggets hosted Chicago I indeed think it really is intriguing how you approach that I do think certain guys the way they react to the bureaucrats can help them the way they interact In other tactics it hurts you So if that s the approach he s taking I trust him that he feels like it puts him in a better mental state If it helps how he plays how he feels daily it s a good thing One more exception to the rule Jokic made sure to get in a full season s worth of opinions on officiating back at Nuggets training camp when he held court for at least minutes with a trio of NBA referees brought in by the band to officiate a scrimmage Related Articles Nuggets Journal Sign of an all-time great The kids want to play like Nikola Jokic Peyton Watson shatters career record with -point meeting in New Orleans Without Aaron Gordon Nuggets escape New Orleans with win in Zion Williamson s return Time Grind men s basketball league showcases high-level ballers while giving back to the next generation Keeler How did Nuggets Cam Johnson find his groove Thank this move I think that was a perfect moment for me to talk with them he explained I don t need to yell at them or we don t need to yell back and forth So just when the season started I think it s really helping me to focus on the championship Interestingly Jokic has already been hit with two flagrant fouls early this season and he fouled out of a tournament for the first time in more than a year on Wednesday But the stat that matters is that he hasn t picked up a technical foul If he makes it all year without one it would be the first time since - I think I was in the majority situations I talked to them really respectfully he commented But I think there is just no point to waste potential on something If he already called something he s not gonna change it He never changes it So I think that has never happened except when you challenge it Just try to control what you can control