BREAKING: Nikola Jokic’s brother sued over viral Ball Arena brawl after 2024 Lakers game
Strahinja Jokic is charged with misdemeanor assault and set to stand trial next month
Nemanja Jokic, left, and Strahinja Jokic, right, brothers of Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, celebrate after the fourth quarter of the Nuggets’ 113-111 Western Conference finals game 4 win over the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Monday, May 22, 2023. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
A Denver man who alleges he was punched by Nikola Jokic’s older brother during a 2024 game against the Los Angeles Lakers at Ball Arena is suing the Nuggets star’s sibling for negligence, assault and battery, according to a complaint filed Monday.
Police have said Strahinja Jokic, 42, was seen punching Lakers fan Nicholas Meyer after the April 22, 2024, game in a now-viral video. He was charged with third-degree assault.
Strahinja Jokic told police he felt he had done nothing wrong because he was defending an older man he had known for a very long time. He pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor and is set for a May 7 trial in Denver County Court.
In the complaint filed by Denver firm Harden Law in Denver District Court, Meyer alleges an unnamed man sitting behind him “belligerently heckled” him throughout the game for being a Lakers fan and later shoved him.
Strahinja Jokic later climbed over seats to punch Meyer in the face, according to the lawsuit.
No security guards were in the area as Strahinja Jokic continued to kick at him while Meyer and a friend left the arena.
The punch caused cutting, bruising, a deviated septum, a concussion and other “serious bodily injuries,” Meyer’s attorneys wrote.
Meyer is seeking a jury trial and an unspecified amount of money in damages.
In a statement, Strahinja Jokic’s attorney Abraham Hutt from Denver firm Recht Kornfeld said the complaint omits facts “in an effort to sanitize (Meyer’s) provocation and aggression which led to this incident,” adding that witness statements don’t support Meyer’s claims.
“The suit is a naked attempt to make money from his own aggression,” Hutt said.
Updated 5:30 p.m. April 22, 2025: Because of a reporter’s error, a previous version of this article misreported the person accused of heckling and shoving Nicholas Meyer at the Lakers game. It was an unnamed man.