DENVER — Lakers star Luka Dončić was confused as to why he was assessed a technical foul during the second quarter of Thursday’s 120-113 road loss to the Nuggets at Ball Arena on 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.”
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.
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Dončić narrowly avoided a one-game suspension in the season finale of the 2021-22 season after the NBA office rescinded his 16th technical foul.
Dončić also picked up a 16th technical foul late in the 2022-23 season, which was also rescinded, resulting in him not having to serve a one-game suspension then either.
“Don’t get another tech,” Doncic responded when asked how he can avoid the suspension.
When asked whether he was committing to not picking up another technical foul, Doncic responded: “We’ll see. Can’t predict the future.”
Dončić didn’t say whether he thought there was a chance his technical from Thursday’s game would be rescinded.
“I mean if three other people say it and I’m the only one that [gets] a tech, what’s the point of that?,” Dončić said. “I really wasn’t trying to talk at all and that was the first thing I said and immediately.”
