DENVER — Lakers star Luka Dončić was confused as to why he was assessed a technical foul during the second quarter ofThursday’s 120-113 road loss to the Nuggets at Ball Arenaon Thursday night, which was his 15th technical of the season.
If Dončić is assessed one more technical foul over the Lakers’ final 20 games of the regular season, he will have to serve a one-game suspension.
“Just because I yelled at him I guess,” Dončić said, referring to the explanation he was given from referee Dedric Taylor, who gave the Lakers star the tech. “That’s what he said. But I heard three other players say the exact same sentence and didn’t get a tech. And that’s my problem; I was trying not to talk at all. [That was] the first thing I said, no warning or nothing. But I heard three other players say the exact same thing and nothing. So it’s just … I don’t know what to say.”
Luka Doncic on why he was assessed the technical foul, which is Luka's 15th of the season:"Just because I yelled at him I guess. That's what he said. But I heard three other players say the exact same sentence and didn't get a tech. And that's my problem. I was trying not to…pic.twitter.com/WSgNrzx9Tk
Dončić appeared to be unhappy after not receiving a shooting foul when Nuggets guard Bruce Brown made contact with him when he missed a pull-up midrange shot at the 5:52 mark of the second quarter.
After grabbing the defensive rebound, Christian Braun raced out in transition and assisted Jamal Murray on a corner 3-pointer to put the Nuggets up 49-39.
Shortly after the made 3, Doncic was assessed the technical foul, with Murray making the free throw to put the Nuggets up by 11.
“Dončić was issued a technical foul for using profanity directed towards a referee,” Crew Chief Ed Malloy said in the postgame pool report. “We are trained not to stop an offensive transition when calling a technical foul on the defense.”
Players who receive 16 technical fouls in a regular season receive an automatic one-game suspension and a fine.
There has been three times in his NBA career (2020-23) that Dončić has finished a season with 15 technical fouls.
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