Former Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller has this in common with Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia

The incident on Sunday night in which Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic got into a tussle with Phoenix Suns owner Mat Ishbia brought to mind an incident from 1994 in which former Utah Jazz owner Larry H. Miller went after a fan.

Incidentally, it was a Denver Nuggets fan (named Rich Babich), and it was also during the the playoffs, just like Sunday’s kerfuffle.

As retold by longtime Deseret News sports reporter/columnist Brad Rock in 2010 when the Jazz and Nuggets faced each other in the first round of the playoffs, the incident occurred during halftime of Game 5 in Salt Lake City.

Miller had been mad about the way the Jazz played in the first half, Rock wrote, and was allegedly bumped and shoved by a fan who was near Babich as he was making his way back to his seat following a tirade in the Jazz locker room.

At that point, Miller “went after” the group, Rock wrote, both verbally and physically.

“It was surreal,” Babich told Rock. “When he grabbed me, the whole world slowed down.”

It just so happened that the incident occurred near where a bunch of photojournalists were stationed, so they caught the moment.

Babich told Rock that no one in the group Miller went after knew he owned the Jazz.

“I never thought it was a bad thing,” Babich said. “Not the very moment it happened, but very shortly after, I just thought it was fans from both sides and I considered Larry Miller a fan of the game and the Jazz, and both of us were just focused on their team and involved in the right things.”

As for Sunday’s incident, talk is swirling about whether or not Jokic will get suspended by the NBA.

Jokic said after the game that he feels the league needs to protect its players, while Ishbia posted a statement on Twitter saying he hopes no disciplinary action is taken.

“His hand was on me, so they’re not going to protect me? They’re going to protect the fan? Not me as a person, but I’m talking about as a player,” Jokic said.

“I mean, they can do whatever of course. They don’t care, but I think they’re supposed to protect players.”

Wrote Ishbia: “Great win for the Suns last night in an amazing series so far! That should be and is the only story.

“Suspending or fining anyone over last nights incident would not be right. I have alot of respect for Jokic and don’t want to see anything like that. Excited for game 5! Go Suns!”