Luka Doncic says he was trash-talking with a courtside fan in the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 136-120 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday when an official thought Doncic’s ire was directed at him, leading to an ejection for the Lakers guard.
“I never got a fan ejected,” Doncic said, explaining how he will often engage with opposing fans without asking arena security to intervene. “Never. But if [the fan is] going to talk, I’m going to talk back, like always. That had nothing to do with the ref. So I didn’t really understand.”
Los Angeles led 108-107 with 7:40 left when Doncic was whistled for a technical foul by referee J.T. Orr, his second of the game. Orr also gave Doncic a tech in the third quarter, when Doncic argued that a foul call was missed when Lakers forward Jarred Vanderbilt was hit on the previous possession.
The Thunder finished the game on a 29-12 run to rout the Lakers.
“He thought I got fouled, which I did get fouled, I got slapped across the head,” Vanderbilt said of Doncic. “He was just telling the ref that that’s what happened. And the ref was just like … ‘I’ll talk to anybody but you, Luka.’ So it seemed a little personal at that point.”
Crew chief Tony Brothers was asked about both technical fouls during a pool report after the game.
For the first, which came with 4:02 remaining in the third quarter, Brothers said Doncic “directed profanity at a game official.” For the second, Brothers said Doncic “looked directly at an official and used vulgar language.”
The fan, Jeremy Price, who referred to himself as “The Courtside Tattoo Dude,” told ESPN that Doncic was shouting at him and not the referee.
“During the game within the game, I mentioned that he was short [on his shot] and he missed it, and he turned around and he shot an expletive back and J.T. happened to see it and, at that point, T’d him up,” Price said.
Price, who said he also jawed with Doncic last year during the Thunder’s playoff series against the Dallas Mavericks, said Orr “possibly” could have been mistaken as to whom Doncic was addressing.
“That’s probably why he picked up that technical, to be quite honest,” Price said.
The ejection changed the course of an ultracompetitive game between the Lakers, ranked No. 3 in the Western Conference, and Oklahoma City, which boasts the No. 1 overall record in the league at 65-14.
“Both teams knew that this was going to be a playoff-type atmosphere, playoff-type competition, playoff-type feeling, and it just got weird,” Lakers forward LeBron James said. “The game got weird after that.”
Added Lakers coach JJ Redick: “It was a great game that unfortunately didn’t get to finish out the way that I think every basketball fan would want because of some decision-making on some individuals’ parts.”
With the missed opportunity in Oklahoma City behind them, the Lakers turned their focus to Wednesday’s game in Dallas. As important as the game is for playoff seeding, the contest will take on a much larger meaning with Doncic’s return to Dallas since the Mavericks included him as part of a three-team trade with the Lakers and Utah Jazz to acquire Anthony Davis and Max Christie on Feb. 2.
“There’s going to be a lot of emotion for me,” Doncic said. “I don’t really know what to expect. I don’t know how I’m going to feel, honestly. I’m looking forward to being back in Dallas, obviously, with the fans, seeing my teammates — ex-teammates. It’s going to be very emotional for me, for sure.”
James, who anticipated a warm reception from the Mavericks fans who rooted for Doncic during the first seven seasons of his NBA career, said the Lakers would make sure Doncic felt their support no matter what the environment was like.
“I think it’s very important,” James said. “I mean, it’s camaraderie. It’s holding each other down whenever we face anything. And I think tomorrow’s going to be a lot of emotions going through Luka, both the interior and then exterior. And it’s our job just to do our job. If we do our job on the floor, then we’ll help him tremendously.”
And in the process, help out their playoff positioning with a win with only three games left in the regular season.
“We need two out of the three to lock in the third spot,” Lakers guard Austin Reaves said. “We’re going to go compete and play like we have the last couple games, because we want to stay where we’re at [in the standings].”
