Jokic Says Fans Who Boo Their Own Team Are Not Real Fans

The Denver Nuggets trailed by 20 points at home for the second straight game on Monday night, losing 134-114 to a winless Golden State team as fans filed out early. Nikola Jokic, who is not under contract beyond this season, addressed the crowd reaction from the previous game and said supporters who boo their own team are not real fans.

Denver fell behind by at least 20 points in both of its home games to open the season, both against winless opponents. The Nuggets would be 0-3 without a 23-point comeback against New Orleans last Saturday. After Monday's loss, Denver ranked 25th in net rating, 18th in offensive rating, 26th in defensive rating and 23rd in defensive rebounding rate.

The defense is allowing 41.7 attempted three-pointers per game, which ranks 28th in the league. Denver also allows 52.7 points in the paint per game, ranking 21st, and 18.7 second-chance points per game, also 21st.

Jokic said he was not surprised by those numbers. "I think last year, we were (ranked) 20-something in defense. It cannot happen overnight," Jokic said. "It's kind of hard to change your habits. You really need to emphasize and kind of overdo. Some situations, even if you don't need to do it, you need to do it, just to change your habits. It's a hard thing to do."

Denver's shooting has also suffered. The Nuggets are 31.1% from three-point range after three games, including a 5-for-23 clip from Jokic. Coach David Adelman said he is not concerned about that number. Perimeter shooting has been affected by the absences of Cam Johnson, Spencer Jones and Julian Strawther.

Jokic has previously discussed the pressure of playing in front of European crowds. "I wish every player in NBA should go play, like, six months in Europe just to see how (much) pressure it is to play," he said during the preseason. When asked Monday about the difference between those crowds and Denver's, Jokic said he had never heard of European fans booing their own team. "I mean, probably, they are. But I think they are not real fans," he said.

Aaron Gordon offered a different view on Saturday. He would rather hear booing than silence. Multiple team sources told The Denver Post that players were taken aback by the reception and felt a home opener was too soon to boo a new version of the team.

Adelman said the reaction was personal to each player. "I think it's individual to each person. That's why Aaron's reaction is different than Nikola's," Adelman said. "I see Nikola's point that it's the first game of the season. He's been here for a long time. And I think we've won the most home games (in the league) in the last 10 years. So it was an awful start, for sure. But we've had awful starts and come back and won games, and we did it that night as well."

As the Warriors pulled away in the fourth quarter Monday, fans headed for the exits. Jokic had said 48 hours earlier: "If you guys follow us, you know that we never quit." The final score was 134-114.