Something about a USA vs the World setting brings out a real clown in the Joker. Netflix’s Court of Gold showed the unfiltered Nikola Jokic, who turned the locker room into a party. When that 2024 Olympics atmosphere was recreated for the 2026 All-Star Weekend, it brought out no-holds-barred Jokic again. It was not just limited to showing his laid-back stance regarding questions of effort. He had to poke fun at Luka Doncic, too.

After the main event, we’re getting glimpses of what went down behind the scenes of the All-Star Game. And the main show for Team World began in the locker room before tip-off, courtesy of Jokic. The Denver Nuggets superstar delivered a ruthless roast of his close friend, accusing the Slovenian sensation of having a certain habit.

The exchange began with Jokic asking the Pacers star, Pascal Siakam, about the Cameroonian football legend, Samuel Eto’o. Siakam claimed he does know the Barcelona player, which prompted a playful jab from Luka Doncic. After all, before the NBA, Luka spent his teen years playing for the Real Madrid basketball team and extended his loyalty to the football team, too.

Siakam also confirmed he’s a Real Madrid fan, and they seemingly bonded over that common ground. The Joker couldn’t let them have that little joy and chimed in, “You know why Luka follows everything? Because he bets on everything. Gamble, gamble.”

It looks like Nikola Jokic forgot there’s an actual gambling investigation in the NBA going on. Can’t make those jokes lightly. Siakam found it Hilarious with a capital-H.

There’s no history of the 26-year-old Doncic gambling. So he had the real-life version of a typical ‘smh’ response, complete with a disbelief-filled “This guy…” at Jokic.

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Before the game, Jokic even said, “They think that we’re good friends, so they put us next to each other,” after being teamed up with Doncic in the ASG two years in a row. Doncic, as if that’s Austin Reaves, claims they’re not friends or brothers.

But they’re obviously the representative unit of Team World. Enough for Kevin Durant and Anthony Edwards to publicly call them out for a perceived lack of effort.

Both Doncic and Jokic played only five minutes in the first game and sat out the rest of the contests before Team Stripes inevitably eliminated them in the preliminaries. But before that, Doncic claimed he didn’t get why KD called them out.

But Jokic maintained his stance, “I’m going to play how I play every year. I’m not sure that (new format) brings another fire to me because I play every game the same.”

Apparently, The Joker kept up the fun vibes in the locker room, too. For Jokic, the joke was a perfect way to deflect the pressure of the MVP race while keeping his best friend on his toes.