It’s Jaden McDaniels versus everybody. After calling out the Denver Nuggets team as bad defenders, the 25-year-old has not stopped talking back on the court. His last-second layup decision in Game 4 led to a brawl with two ejections and an $85,000 fine. Despite the franchise losing Donte DiVincenzo and Anthony Edwards for the Round 1 series, the fiery spirit of McDaniels never faded, and it troubled Nikola Jokic and co.

“I mean McDaniels, he just has to stop picking on these big guys.” This led to a double technical foul for Ayo Dosunmu and Jonas Valanciunas. McDaniels continued jawing at his Nuggets rival and gave a hard time to every Denver star. That’s why the Ball Arena erupted and broke out a “McDaniels sucks” chant. There are more incidents from Game 5 as the Wolves star troubled his opponents, be it Nikola Jokic, Valanciunas, and even Christian Braun.

With 8:50 left in the third frame, Jamal Murray set an illegal screen, and an offensive foul call was made. But that time, Nikola Jokic was already set in motion to rattle the basket, but only to be thwarted by McDaniels once again. He did block the attempt, but his trailing arm caught the Joker, who was not backing down after last game’s skirmish. As he charged towards the 25-year-old Wolves star, Mike Conley and the official stepped in between and made sure there was no escalation this time.

The official had to calm down the 3x MVP as he was staring at McDaniels, who was standing near the baseline, away from the drama. Apart from the 12-point win, the Nuggets also got their lick back in the same third quarter. With 1:35 left, forward Christian Braun went up for the double-handed slam, brushing off McDaniel’s challenge and stirring the home crowd into a frenzy. Afterward, Braun pointed at McDaniels and was whistled for a technical foul. Braun happily took it as it was for once that the Wolves star was not dominating.

Leaked audio reveals Nikola Jokic and Jaden McDaniels’ heated confrontation

The heat in the rivalry began after Game 2 win for the Timberwolves. McDaniels called out all the Nuggets stars and their limited defensive abilities. “Go after Jokic, Jamal, all the bad defenders,” said McDaniels, who had 14 points and three assists. “Tim Hardaway (Jr.), Cam Johnson, Aaron Gordon, the whole team, just go at them.” Then came Game 4, where the Wolves’ star did not follow the unwritten “dribble it out” rule.

With just 1.3 seconds left on the clock, the game was already decided, but Jaden McDaniels still went for a layup. It angered Nikola Jokic, and he sprinted down to confront his rival. After a light shove from the Joker, McDaniels held his jersey. Then the leaked footage revealed their statements. Jokic stated, “Why did you do that?” McDaniels was unfazed by the contact and answered, “You a b*tch, it’s the playoffs!”

By that time, teammates, coaches, and the referees came in between to stop the brawl. That game was very emotional for both teams. The Wolves lost two of their starters to injuries, and the Nuggets were down 1-3 in the series. Making the home court advantage count, Denver won Game 5 and will hope to continue the momentum.