Nikola Jokic on Nuggets fans who booed: “They’re not welcome anymore”

DENVER — Nikola Jokic has a message for the Nuggets fans who booed Saturday night: Don’t come back.

After Denver’s 141-135 overtime win over New Orleans on Saturday, in which the three-time MVP became the NBA’s triple-double king, Jokic was asked about the bench unit that started a historic comeback. Nobody asked him about the boos. He went straight to that low point instead of the comeback.

“I’m actually so glad that you mentioned that, because we get booed the first home game, and I think those fans who booed us, they don’t need to come anymore,” Jokic said. “Because if you guys follow us, you know that we never quit, and we came back from much worse for similar situations. So if they ask me, they’re not welcome anymore.”

Jokic used a question about his teammates to stand up for them.

Nikola Jokic “I think the fans that booed us are not welcome here anymore, if you ask me… if you guys follow us, you know that we never quit and we came back from much worse for similar situations.” pic.twitter.com/Qz3chTVNt4

— Jake Shapiro (@Shapalicious) October 25, 2026

Later he was asked whether a home crowd should support its team even when things are going badly. He let it be known how serious he was being.

“Yes,” Jokic said. “If they’re Nuggets fans, they should support us.”

To some, it might sound like Jokic was joking — he wasn’t.

The Ball Arena crowd turned on the Nuggets for long stretches Saturday as the Pelicans built a 23-point lead and led 108-89 going into the fourth quarter. Fans had already scattered a few boos for coach David Adelman during pre-game introductions. That echoed last spring, when Adelman was booed before Game 5 against Minnesota with Denver down 3-1 in the series. The Nuggets won that night and lost Game 6, ending their season.

Winning after trailing by 19 entering the fourth tied a franchise record. Jokic finished with 35 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, and Jamal Murray scored 42. Jokic said Murray was the voice in the huddle when things looked bleakest.

“Even like we were down 16 … he said we can win this,” Jokic said.

Jokic has a point — the Nuggets of his era have climbed out of big holes, including 25 points down at Memphis in 2019. They also won after trailing by 19 entering the fourth against Philadelphia in 2019. It’s almost become somewhat of a joke in Nuggets Nation how far behind the Nuggets will be when Jokic checks back in for his final stint of the contest. Most know by now that leaving early, or giving up, is something you shouldn’t do with this group.

But the frustration was understandable on Saturday after last season’s first-round exit, the first of the Jokic-Murray era with both healthy and such a sour offseason. Then came a season opener in Oklahoma City that produced their lowest-scoring game since 2019 as they dropped to rival Thunder.

So here comes the home opener, where fans spent loads of money to be in the crowd only to watch the Nuggets give up 73 points in the first half to a team that hadn’t won a game yet and only won 26 last year and didn’t even have a first-round pick.

“Nothing goes your way, and they’re making shots. You’re not making shots, so it was just bad energy,” he said. “You need a couple minutes to go by so you can get out of that bad … I don’t know how to say, energy, whatever it is.”

The crowd felt that energy, too. Booing is how they let it out.

A month ago, Jokic said he wished every NBA player could spend six months in Europe “just to see how much pressure there is.”

“If you have three losses in a row, it’s a big deal,” he said in late September. “People are taking it serious. They take a lot of pride.”

Saturday, Denver fans took it seriously.

Jokic’s comments also follow a summer when he said he’s done taking photos with fans in his private time.

“I’m getting more and more bothered by popularity,” Jokic said last month. “This is going to sound corny, but, I’m getting ruder to people who approach me. Honestly, it’s tiring…Some people around me know, I don’t take pictures because it’s my time. I’ll sound rude again, but what can I do?”

Those comments bothered some fans. Telling paying customers how to act will bother others. For years, Jokic has been Denver’s beloved, unbothered jokester. With his future in Denver still unsettled, the Nuggets can’t afford a Joker like heel turn, not on the precipice of a payday that will give him the highest-paid contract in NBA history.

But Saturday was just another example of Jokic caring. Even if the national media will just talk about the horses and wanting to go back to Serbia. He cares about Denver and what its people think of him and his team. He cares about winning and that’s what the Nuggets did.

The fan guide for the Jokic era keeps getting longer. Don’t ask him for a photo. Don’t boo him. And after Saturday, don’t leave early. Some fans will tolerate it to see the greatest player in franchise history, others will be ticked off by the star player telling them how to fan.

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