Miami Heat Forward Nikola Jovic Talking Smack In Serbia’s 96-85 Rout of South Sudan

Miami Heat forward Nikola Jovic had six points and two rebounds off the bench to help Serbia in a 96-85 victory against South Sudan.

Jovic showed some energy as the Serbs pulled away late. He hung on the rim for a few seconds after a powerful dunk. He was then jawed at the South Sudan defense.

With the loss, the Olympics are over for South Sudan. After the game former Heat forward Luol Deng called out the officiating. He said the game was too lopsided at the free throw line. Serbia was 21 of 31 from the free throw line. South Sudan only went to the line six times.

The post-game story was Deng’s comments toward the game officials. Deng serves as the South Sudan Federation president.

Deng blasted the officiating as he called out for greater respect toward the African teams. He also questioned why none of the officials in the tournament were of African descent.

“I don’t know why there are no African referees in the Olympics. It is 2024,” Deng said to BasketNews. “Well, I don’t know what’s the reason for that? You could say whatever you wanna say. But you know, if we’re representing the continent, we gotta be represented fully. And that’s something that we gotta keep on working on.”

He wasn’t finished. He practically accused the referees of deciding the game.

Deng said, “If these referees are not familiar with our game or our style, then I don’t know what the World Cup or the Olympics is. Is it just a European basketball style? And we’re not allowed to be aggressive?”

Scott Salomon is a contributor to Miami Heat On SI. He can be reached at sas@southfloridamedianetwork.com.

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