Look, I love Nikola Jokić as much as the next guy. The man is a three-time MVP, one of the most skilled big men we've ever seen, and he plays the game with joy. But last night against Utah, the Denver Nuggets star crossed a line that needs to be called out.

In one of the most controversial plays of the season, Jokić - all 284 pounds of him - put his full body weight on top of Utah's Keyonte George, who weighs just 184 pounds. That's a 100-pound difference, folks. And it wasn't an accident. You can see it clear as day in the replays.

George is a young guard trying to make his mark in this league, and he's got Jokić using him as a human cushion. It's dangerous, it's unnecessary, and honestly, it's beneath a player of Jokić's caliber. This isn't basketball - it's wrestling.

Here's where it gets even more interesting: Jokić picked up what should've been his sixth foul late in the game, which would've ejected him. But after review, the refs overturned the call. He stayed in the game, Denver survived, and the Nuggets went 20-21 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter alone. Utah? They shot 3-3.

You can't tell me there isn't star treatment in this league. If a role player puts his full weight on a star's head, he's gone. Ejected. Suspended. But because it's Jokić, the league's golden boy, he gets to stay on the court and close out the game? Come on.

I'm not saying Jokić is dirty. His track record suggests he's not. But this play was reckless at best and malicious at worst. When you're one of the biggest players in the league, you have a responsibility to protect smaller guys. George could've been seriously hurt.

Jamal Murray dropped 45 points and George had an incredible fourth quarter himself, so it was a hell of a game. But that doesn't excuse what did. The NBA needs to take a hard look at this play and ask whether they're doing enough to protect smaller players from much bigger ones.