It would be a great evening between brothers in the star fight! This would be the promotion of the boxing match with which the Morris brothers have challenged Nikola Jokic’s brothers
To begin with, the story should be put into context. It all dates back to November 9, 2021, in a game between the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat. At one point in the game, when Jokic was bringing the ball up, he received a hard foul from Markieff Morris in the center of the court. The Serbian’s response was to take justice into his own hands and hit the then Heat player in the back.
The result was the expulsion of the two and a one-game suspension for Jokic and several games without playing for Morris due to neck problems caused by the blow. And a personal rivalry that goes far beyond the basketball courts.
The collision between the two players later brought reactions. Marcus, Markieff‘s twin brother who was then with the Clippers, and Jokic‘s two brothers. Years later, the two NBA players want to settle scores, and not on the basketball court.
While the Morris twins try to find a place in the league, they are once again in the spotlight, although not for playing basketball. Markieff was traded from the Mavericks to the Lakers along with Luka Doncic and Maxi Kleber in February, and is now an unrestricted free agent. Morris, also without a team, played his last NBA games with the Cavs in 2024. On September 15, 2024, he was signed by the Knicks, who cut him 13 days later.
The two were on The Biggest Podcast with Shaquille O’Neal to surprise everyone with their request. After again calling what Jokic did a “sneaky hit” and justifying his foul “it’s a hard foul, but I keep my hand up”, Markieff challenged the brothers to a boxing match: “The bigger they are, the harder they fall. We’re big too”. The conversation with Shaq and Adam Lefkoe went like this:
Adam Lefkoe: I’m terrified of Jokic’s brother. That guy looks so huge. He’s big with mohawk hair.
Markieff Morris: “What does it mean? The bigger they are, the harder they fall. We’re big too. I’m 6’8″ and 270 pounds. It’s not like I’m a small guy. I’m bigger than them.”
Adam Lefkoe: We can fix this.
Marcus Morris: Yeah, sure! We can get it as long as they don’t use their feet, we can do it.
Markieff Morris: Please, please!
Marcus Morris: As long as they can’t use their feet. No kicking.
Shaquille O’Neal: Ah, because one of them is an MMA fighter?
Marcus Morris: They would be grabbing their feet and all that. We can’t do that. We can do it directly.
Adam Lefkoe: So just boxing.
Marcus Morris: Just boxing.
In the end, Shaq said he would not organize the fight, but when asked about the age of the Morris twins (35), he changed his mind: “Well, they’re still young, maybe I will organize it.”
We will have to wait for the response from Jokic‘s brothers. Nemanja is the one Shaq was referring to, who is trying to make a career in MMA, while Strahinja is the one Lefkoe was referring to with the mohawk hairstyle in an image that went viral when it all came up in 2021.
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