Charles Barkley asks Nikola Jokic bizarre kiss question

Nikola Jokic and Denver Nuggets teammate DeAndre Jordan have a deep friendship beyond basketball. Often, the two would kiss on the cheeks to celebrate. Following the Nuggets’ 120-101 win over the Clippers in Game 7, the two kept their tradition on the bench before the game ended.

In the postgame interview with Inside the NBA, Charles Barkley asked the three-time MVP:

"Is that the ugliest person you ever kissed in your life?"

Jokic responded:

“No…actually”

The Denver Nuggets superstar did not continue, but his facial expression told the whole story. Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Shaquille O’Neal and Ernie Johnson could not hold back their laughter after seeing Jokic’s reaction.

Nikola Jokic explained to the former NBA players and the legendary sports anchor the reason behind his celebration with DeAndre Jordan:

"It's a Serbian thing. He wants to be a Serbian so, I got to let him have a little peace."

Jokic and LA Clippers guard Bogdan Bogdanovic, a Serbian like the Joker, also shared the same celebration after the game. Since last year, Jokic and Jordan have done the same three-kiss ritual. Nuggets players have been familiar with this but rookie DaRon Holmes had a viral reaction to the celebration between the two big men.

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DeAndre Jordan explained in 2024 how his celebration with Nikola Jokic started

The three-kiss celebration between DeAndre Jordan and Nikola Jokic midway through the 2022-23 season piqued the interest of basketball fans. Jordan appeared on the Paul George podcast last year and explained how the celebration started:

"I saw him and Boban [Marjanovic] doing some kind of triple kiss thing. Okay. I seen that in Europe before. I seen the two but never the three! I'm like, 'Yo, Jok, how you do three kisses with Bobi? He's like, 'Brother, it's Serbian thing but you're Black Serbian.

"One day, we won and he came up to me and I'm like, 'Oh s**t. This is the day.' He's turning and I'm like, 'This is it." I can't f**k it up because if not, he's gonna be like, 'You're not Black Serbian.' ... After that, it became a thing."

Boban Marjanovic is another Serbian basketball player. DeAndre Jordan was with the Houston Rockets when he saw the 7-foot-4 big man and Nikola Jokic do the three-kiss celebration. Jordan was so surprised that he replicated the same ritual with Bobi.

The Denver Nuggets punched a ticket to the second round of the playoffs following a thrilling seven-game series win over the LA Clippers. As the postseason moves on, the three-kiss celebration between Jordan and Jokic could become more often.