Charles Barkley, Shaq Had Honest Take on Nikola Jokic's Viral Spat

In the midst of the Denver Nuggets' overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 121-127, also came a controversial play from Lu Dort on Nikola Jokic within the fourth quarter: his viral trip on the three-time MVP that had eventually unraveled into an altercation with Jaylin Williams, and eventually a flagrant two on Dort to eject him from the game.

The move stemming frm Dort that led to a Jokic trip and a bit of a spat between both sides has seen a variety of opinions after the fallout of the matchup, a couple of interesting takes on the matter stemming from the Inside the NBA crew.

One part of that crew, Charles Barkley, gave his take on the incident that took place involving Jokic and Dort after the game, saying that while he's a fan of "touching guys up," the energy can quickly shift when factoring in the Nuggets' big man's recent knee injury.

"I don't mind touching guys up. I believe in touching guys up," Barkley said postgame. "I think where Joker is sensitive: Man, once you get hurt, especially when somebody does something that's dirty... He was out for a long time. We're all going to get touched up. All guys get hit accidentally... But when you get hurt, and then somebody does something dirty to you, your antennas are up."

"When you get hurt, and then somebody do something dirty to you, ... your antennas are up."

—Charles Barkley and the Inside the NBA crew reacts after Lu Dort tripped Nikola Jokic, resulting in a Dort ejection. pic.twitter.com/1yPiuS4LgE
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 28, 2026

Shaq Says Dort Didn't Deserve Flagrant Two

Shaq's take was a little bit different: he doesn't believe that the move Dort had made was worth a flagrant two, but still felt as if Jokic's reaction to the trip was warranted.

"The first thought that comes to mind when somebody gives you a cheap shot is, 'Hey, you could've hurt me.' So, he reacted the right way. Smart enough not to throw punches, but just to give him that intense look to let him know I'm not playing."

"I wouldn't say it's a flagrant two. It's not even a hard check, it's just like a medium check. Every now and then, Ernie, you've got to touch people up."

Both Hall of Fame players, Shaq and Chuck, know exactly how fiery those playoff-level intensity games can get when emotions are running high. That's exactly what transpired between the Nuggets and Thunder, and it's easy to see how tension had risen immensely between the two sides once they had involved Jokic with what Shaq described as a "medium shot" from Dort.

In the end, it led to a narrow Thunder win in a game that went to extra time, and will leave Jokic having to wait a bit longer to get a sweet taste of revenge on a team he's gotten to know particularly well across the past year thanks to their playoff battles of last year, and now, some high-level regular season games as well.

Feb 27, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić (15) drives against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) during the second quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

The next time Jokic will get a chance to see the Thunder comes right around the corner, though, as the two sides will meet up once again on March 9th in OKC.