The Thunder forward confessed he took an "unnecessary" foul against Jokic, but pushed back on the perception that he is a dirty player.
Lu Dort has finally broken his silence over the embattled incident last week with Nikola Jokic.
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The Oklahoma City Thunder forward candidly admitted that he crossed the line for his flagrant foul on the Serbian superstar.
"It was a physical game throughout the whole game," Dort told Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic after Oklahoma City's 116-108 Tuesday win against the Chicago Bulls. "Obviously, that was unnecessary contact that I shouldn't have done. I got the worst of it by getting thrown out the game. But yeah, it was a high-level game. I'm a competitor, so I compete."
He added: "That's a physical game and there's limits to it. And I went over the limit."
Dort infamously took a bizarre contact by tripping Jokic during the Nuggets' 127-121 loss against the Thunder last Friday. Falling down to the court, Jokic immediately went up and tried to confront the OKC veteran.
Jokic's frustration about the foul was visible from his viral facial reaction, as he went nose-to-nose against Jaylin Williams.
As a result of his unsportsmanlike play, officials ejected Dort with a flagrant foul 2.
As the Thunder have defended him from circulating buzz regarding his reputation for playing, Dort simply denied the notion that he is a dirty player amid other past questionable incidents.
"I don't think I'm dirty," he said. "I can't control media. Media always wants to have some type of attention or anything. They want that buzz. I can't control that. I've been doing well with this organization for years now. I'm happy with how I play and what I do with my teammates. I go out there, compete every night. So I'm gonna keep doing what I do on the court, and then let the media judge the way they want to judge."
"I'm not dirty."
The Thunder and the Nuggets will face two more times this 2025-26 regular season.
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