Luka Doncic was controversially ejected from the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder after receiving his second technical foul in the fourth quarter.
The Los Angeles Lakers were leading by one point after Luka hit a tough floater with just over 7 minutes remaining in the fourth. After the shot, Luka stared down an OKC fan who had been shouting at him and yelled something back.
The referee interpreted the exchange as directed at him, calling a technical foul on Doncic, which was his second and led to his ejection. Following the ejection, the Thunder went on a run and claimed a 136-120 victory.
After the game, the fan, Jeremy Price, who referred to himself as “The Courtside Tattoo Dude,” admitted that Doncic was shouting at him, not the referee.
During the game within the game, I mentioned that he was short [on his shot] and he missed it. He turned around and shot an expletive back, and J.T. happened to see it, and at that point, he T’d him up,” the fan told ESPN
Price suggested that referee J.T. Orr “possibly” could have been mistaken about who Doncic was addressing.
“That’s probably why he picked up that technical, to be quite honest,” he added.
Following the loss, the Lakers remain in third place in the Western Conference with a 48–31 record. They now turn their focus to a highly anticipated matchup on Wednesday in Dallas, where they will face Doncic’s former team, the Mavericks.
