I’m a fan of watching star Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic play. The Slovenian megastar has been a revelation since his 2018 arrival, and 2024 has been no different.
But his insistence that the staff at the Mavericks‘ American Airlines Center remove a fan who was heckling him is just soft.
Video that Suns beat reporter Duane Rankin posted to Twitter shows Luka turn and look at the fan in the stands after he allegedly shouted, “Luka you tired? Get on the treadmill!”
Doncic then made a gesture indicating to Mavericks staff that he’d like to have the fan removed.
“LUKA YOU TIRED, GET ON THE TREADMILL!”
Luka Doncic reaction to fan incoming.
Luka Doncic has since pointed out the fan, who is being talked to by arena staff.
Kyrie Irving walked over and was looking at the fan, who just left.#Suns 100 #Mavs 78 after 3. pic.twitter.com/6npgrJhj6J
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) January 25, 2024
After a timeout, Doncic conferred with Mavericks vice president of security Brian Kinzig, who then had the fan ejected, according to ESPN.
This is so friggin’ soft and such a bad look for one of the NBA’s brightest stars. Don’t let them see you sweat, kid. (RELATED: Struggling Washington Wizards Move On From Head Coach Wes Unseld Jr. Mid-Season In Not-So-Shocking Move)
The ejection came in the midst of a third quarter meltdown for the Mavs, who led the Suns by 16 points at one point in the first half but were down 22 points at the time of the recorded heckle.
After the game, Doncic sparred with the media, accusing them of unfair coverage and defending his decision to remove the fan. (RELATED: Trailblazers Coach Chauncey Billups Flips Out On Refs, Gets Tossed In Crunch Time As His Team Loses Game)
Luka took exception to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reporting the incident, whining, “I knew you would be the first one to point out something like that. I’m not gonna say what he said, but I knew you were gonna be the first one to put out something like that so, I just thought it was funny. You always seem to be the first one to put some bad stuff about me.”
Luka Doncic & Tim MacMahon’s postgame discussion about Luka having a fan ejected.
Video: @DuaneRankin pic.twitter.com/dkIfTPNrcn
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 25, 2024
Doncic claimed that the fan was cursing at him the whole first half. When reporters asked why he didn’t have him kicked out earlier, he said, “I never would eject a fan. They pay for tickets, but I had enough. It’s a little bit of frustration.”
Frustration indeed. The loss was Dallas’ third in a row, a game where coach Jason Kidd said the team lost their focus, and drops them to eighth in the Western Conference.
Doncic continued to whine, though, saying, “I’ll be the bad guy in the media. It’s alright.” When asked if he felt he was unfairly portrayed in the media, he replied with a simple, “no.”
Massive cry baby energy coming from one of the NBA’s biggest stars. I have no doubt that what the fan was saying before this was probably obscene and uncalled for, but when you’re the NBA’s second leading scorer and averaging close to a triple double, you can’t let this kind of stuff bother you.
Members of the Suns disagreed with Doncic’s decision. Suns center Jusuf Nurkic said, “At the end of the day, the fan is a little bit wrong, but he shouldn’t get kicked out.”
“At the end of the day, the fan is a little bit wrong, but he shouldn’t get kicked out.”
Jusuf Nurkic as Luka Doncic responded to a fan heckling him in #Suns win at #Mavs.
Nurkic on Devin Booker’s 46-point night with 22 coming in 3rd quarter:
“Ain’t no Christmas game no more.” pic.twitter.com/MYzbOemZNY
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) January 25, 2024
Star Suns forward Kevin Durant also alluded to the incident, claiming “If somebody talk some shit to me, I’ll talk it back, and we’ll move on. That’s usually how it should go. Once it gets overboard, little disrespectful to the point you got to stop the game, that’s different.”
“If somebody talk some shit to me, I’ll talk it back and we’ll move on. That’s usually how it should go. Once it gets overboard, little disrespectful to the point you got to stop the game, that’s different.” Kevin Durant on heckling as Luka Doncic responded to fan. #Suns #MFFL pic.twitter.com/YDvMvEwv7i
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) January 25, 2024