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United Wholesale Mortgage CEO Mat Ishbia was sitting front row at game four between the Denver Nuggets and the Phoenix Suns on Sunday night when he was knocked over by the 6-foot 11-inch Nuggets’ center.
Late in the second quarter of the close playoff game, the basketball careened out of bounds after a Suns player failed to keep it in. Ishbia, who is majority owner of the Suns, was apparently helping his player off the ground when Nikola Jokic scrambled over to grab the ball.
A video shows the 284-pound Jokic tug at Ishbia’s elbow before giving the mortgage executive a swift shove with his left elbow to Ishbia’s upper chest. Jokic also uses his knee as part of the shove, the video shows.
Ishbia’s hands raise to the air as he’s sent back into his front-row seat and the home crowd erupts in fury.
Other videos shared on social media captured different angles of the interaction.
Others called it a flop, perhaps reminiscent of Ishbia’s former days playing basketball. The 5-foot 10-inch mortgage executive was a walk-on point guard at Michigan State during an era when the team won the National Championship in 2000.
Jokic received a technical as a result of the interaction, and the Suns eventually beat the Nuggets to tie up the series.
In a post-game interview, Jokic defended his action, saying when Ishbia is sitting on the court, “he’s a fan, he cannot influence the game by holding the ball.”
“I think he’s supposed to get kicked out if he’s influencing the game,” Jokic added, referring to Ishbia as a “fan.”
Nuggets head coach Michael Malone also brushed off Ishbia’s status as the Suns owner, calling him “some fan.”
“Just give the ball up, man,” Malone said, adding that “I don’t give a shit” whether the fan was the team owner. “I really don’t care.”
Perhaps buoyed by the win, Ishbia brushed off the incident and called for no further punishment of Jokic.
“Suspending or fining anyone over last nights (sic) incident would not be right,” he said on Twitter. “I have alot (sic) of respect for Jokic and don’t want to see anything like that.”
Ishbia’s UWM also holds the title as the biggest mortgage lender in the U.S., though the company has been battling the same headwinds as the broader market.
UWM posted a $62.5 million loss in the final three months of 2022. Its revenue fell 50 percent in the fourth quarter compared to a year before. The company’s first-quarter results will be made public on Wednesday.
