For one motive or one other, NBA players getting hit within the nuts seems to be at an all-time high in the course of the 2023 playoffs. On Friday evening throughout Sport 3 of the Western Convention Semifinal sequence between the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns, Nikola Jokic grew to become the most recent participant to need to take care of a shot beneath the belt.
Jokic got here as much as set a display on Cameron Payne, who was guarding Jamal Murray. Nothing uncommon occurred right here — Payne bumped into Jokic, whereas Murray determined to go to his left as an alternative of utilizing the display — however as Payne ran into the previous NBA MVP, his left arm bought acquainted with Jokic’s groin, which led to the massive fella hitting the deck in some severe ache.
Curiously, not like another nut photographs we’ve seen this postseason, Payne benefitted from this getting reviewed by the officers. Previous to this getting reviewed, Payne was hit with a technical foul for the contact with Jokic. However after the evaluate, that ended up getting rescinded, and Payne was solely known as for a private foul on Murray for the contact that occurred after he bumped into Jokic. Whatever the penalty, we should insist that NBA gamers cease hitting one another beneath the belt.
