The Denver Nuggets’ home court echoed with boos when the team fell behind by 23 points in their game against the Pelicans. Eventually, they mounted a comeback, but star center Nikola Jokic had had enough of the crowd already. He said the fans are “not welcome” to their games anymore, prompting legendary NBA icon Charles Barkley to send him a strong message.

“That’s how this thing works. We love you when things are going good. We’re going to turn on you when things are going bad. I tell players all the time, you can’t come in here all sensitive,” Barkley explained during his recent appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio

“Like, it’s like us as reporters. We’re going to kiss your a** if you’re playing good. But when you play bad, we’re going to criticize you. If you don’t understand how this relationship works, you’re just stupid.” Barkley reasoned.

Barkley isn’t the only one criticizing Jokic over his comments. The Serbian player scored 35 points in his game against the Pelicans, but that didn’t come smoothly. The Nuggets trailed by 23 points in the second half and 19 as they entered the fourth quarter.

It surely looked like they were going to lose. Of course, the crowd wasn’t happy. “I’m starting to wonder, because him calling out the fans was like, because you know, fans are sensitive,” Barkley explained the very nature of the spectators. “They’re like, sc**w you, we pay you all that money, we’ve been following you and we love you.”

The team trailing by double digits made a bigger difference to the fans because the Nuggets were on home court. However, Jokic took the booing too personally. After the team secured a comeback win 141-135, he opened up about the incident.

“I think those fans who booed us, they don’t need to come anymore,” he said as per The Denver Post. “Because if you guys follow us, you know that we never quit and we came back from much worse or similar situations. If they ask me, they are not welcome anymore.”

Jokic delivers an interesting point, but is that good enough? He was the Finals MVP in 2023 when the Denver Nuggets won the NBA championship. His playoffs average stood at 30.0 points, 13.5 rebounds, and 9.5 assists per game.

Even during his game against the Pelicans, Jokic secured a triple-double and scored eight of his 35 points during overtime. Naturally, he expects the fans to trust him and the team.

However, it’s like Charles Barkley explained, it’s just not how things work with the fans. Fan reception is directly tied to how a team performs. No fanbase holds it back when a team is failing, especially on the home ground.

That being said, Nikola Jokic has not backed down from his take one bit. After their comeback against the Pelicans, the Nuggets lost to the Golden State Warriors 114-134.

Jokic was asked about his comments about the fans later on and he didn’t back down. “I’m sticking to what I said,” he told reporters. “I think they are not real fans.”

Will he take Barkley’s advice? Perhaps only time will tell.