Markieff Morris reflects on his famous altercation with Nikola Jokic: "Him hitting me from the back was dirty" originally appeared on Basketball Network .
In a heated matchup between the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat on November 8, 2021, fans witnessed what many still consider the ugliest moment in Nikola Jokic's career — though it's hard to say he was entirely to blame.
With 2:39 left in the game, Markieff Morris committed a hard foul on Jokic from behind, clearly provoking the Serbian center. Jokic didn't hesitate to respond — shoving Morris forcefully in the back. The incident led to both players being ejected and set off a wave of controversy across the league.
On The Big Podcast with Shaq, Morris once again spoke about the altercation.
"Yeah, it's a dirty hit. I made a basketball move, I stretched my arm and made it known I'm coming for it, it was just a hard foul. Him hitting me from the back was dirty. I walked back to the other side of the court. I had no idea he was going to hit me. It was like I was in a car accident, honestly, " Morris added .
After both players were ejected, tensions escalated. The entire Heat squad, led by Jimmy Butler, waited outside the Nuggets' locker room, seemingly ready for more, until arena security escalated the situation. Meanwhile, the beef spilled over onto Twitter, where Jokic's brothers, Nemanja and Strahinja, warned Morris brothers: "You better stay on this side... We don't play like that. Don't let this get to where it shouldn't."
This wasn't the first time Morris publicly addressed the incident. He had previously warned Jokic about what he called a cheap shot .
"Took a sucker shot. It's like when you get, they call it a snuck. He snuck me, yeah. It was a sucker shot," Morris said . "But he gonna get his though. Don't trip."
Since then, the two have met again on the court — and to their credit, handled things professionally with no further incidents. After that, Morris was injured for a while and couldn't play for some time. At the time, it's worth noting that the Morris twins had a reputation for regularly playing on the edge of fair play, both verbally and physically. They were among the most polarizing figures in the league. What rubbed them the wrong way was likely the fact that someone like Jokic didn't back down and pushed back.
Related: Markieff Morris calls out Nikola Jokić, "a 300 pound sloppy fat boy," for missing 30 games
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 24, 2025, where it first appeared.
