ORLANDO, Fla. — Luka Doncic was assessed his 16th technical foul of the season during Saturday’s win over the Magic, meaning the Lakers star will have to serve a one-game suspension, by league rule unless the technical is rescinded.
Doncic, along with Magic center Goga Bitadze, were given double technicals after Doncic split a pair of free throws with 1:19 left in the third quarter.
Doncic and Bitadze exchanged words while Doncic was shooting free throws late in the third. They had another back and forth after the free throws, leading to the technical fouls.
Luka Doncic was assessed his 16th technical foul of the season during Saturday’s game against the Magic. NBAE via Getty ImagesThey had different stories about what transpired.
“He said at the free throw, he would f— my whole family,” Doncic recalled, adding that Bitadze was speaking in Serbian. “And at some point, this is basketball. At some point, I just can’t stand it. I gotta stand up for myself. But I know I gotta do better. My teammates, I know they have my back, so I let them down. But hopefully, it [gets] rescinded.”
The Lakers have already appealed Doncic’c technical foul.
“I’m not sure what happened,” coach JJ Redick said. “I do know that there were certain things said in a language that the referees couldn’t understand, in references to Luka’s mom.”
Bitadze told ESPN and the Orlando Sentinel in a phone call that Doncic said something “really inappropriate” in Serbian about Bitadze’s family first, and that he “just said it back.”
Bitadze, who’s Georgian, played professionally in Serbia from 2016-19 before being drafted by the Pacers in 2019, which is how he understands Serbian.
“It was nothing towards his family or anybody,” Bitadze said. “His family, I really, truly respect them and that’s pretty much it. I’m a fan of his game and don’t want to look like it was directed to his family, or anything. It was just in the heat of the moment. I heard what he said and I felt like I had to respond the same way. So, from my side, if he feels like I said something too much or crossed the line, I apologize as a man. I can take [accountability], but I didn’t say anything but what he said.”
Bitadze added “I just said whatever he told me or [about] my mother [and] said it back. That was pretty much it.”
In a postgame pool report interview,Crew Chief Marc Davis stated both were assessed technical fouls for “their continual taunting of one another.”
“They were both warned to cease their comments directed towards one another between the two free throws,” Davis said. “After the free throw and as the ball entered the frontcourt, they were both correctly assessed technical fouls for their unsportsmanlike comments directed towards one another.”
Doncic entered Saturday with 15 technical fouls.
If the technical foul isn’t rescinded, Doncic will have to serve the one-game suspension when the Lakers play the Pistons on Monday to continue their six-game trip.
There have been three times in his NBA career (2020-23) that Dončić has finished a season with 15 technical fouls.
He finished with 13 techs in 50 games last season with the Mavericks and Lakers after having 13 in 2023-24 with the Mavericks.
While playing for the Mavericks, Dončić narrowly avoided a one-game suspension in the season finale of the 2021-22 season after the NBA office rescinded his 16th technical foul.
There had been three times in his NBA career (2020-23) that Dončić has finished a season with 15 technical fouls. APDončić also picked up a 16th technical foul late in the 2022-23 season, which was also rescinded, resulting in him not having to serve a one-game suspension then either.
