Luka Doncic's first game against the Dallas Mavericks since being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers was sure to ramp up the tension. The refs had a strange way of trying to manage the heat.
Early in the first quarter, Doncic drove to the basket and was blatantly fouled across the arm. No whistle came, so the predictably fiery player through his hands up in disgust and turned to the ref to protest. A whistle did come then as the officials gave Doncic a technical.
Getting T'd up in the first few minutes of the first game against his former team was one of the more ridiculous ways this one could have started.
Luka gets hit with a tech after the refs misses a clear foul on him pic.twitter.com/3vFgt5lRfe
— Italo Santana (@BulletClubIta) February 26, 2025
Luka Doncic T'd up for complaining to refs who should have gotten call right anyways
These days, refs call techs like that. Any sort of demonstration towards the officials results in a whistle, so this isn't exactly a surprise. That doesn't make it any less lame.
This one means more than your average regular season contest. It's totally understandable that Doncic was going to have some heightened emotions. And he was fouled. If the refs had gotten the call right in the first place, the player wouldn't have needed to complain.
NBA: “we don’t know why our viewership is down”
— Master Of The Triple Bye Bye Birdie (@WalkLikeWalt) February 26, 2025
As we watch Luka get a tech for telling the ref he was fouled. Smh.
But these are NBA refs and they can't help themselves. It's not a big game without the officials making themselves part of the story.
The fact that this came in the first three minutes only makes it more frustrating. It would be one thing if Doncic was constantly berating the refs even for the smallest things. They could have given him a warning on this one and avoided the trouble. Now the must-watch player in the league on Tuesday night is in danger of being ejected.
Next thing you know the refs will hit Doncic with another tech for mean mugging the Mavericks bench after each basket.
Luka Doncic career stats
Doncic wasn't on pace for his career high of 70 points with just 12 points at the half but he did need just three assists for his 81st career triple double.
Across his career, Doncic has averaged 28.6 points per game. His 33.9 points per game last season were a career high. He also averages 8.7 rebounds and 8.2 assists per game in his eight seasons in the league. He has shot 46.9 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from beyond the arc.