For the second time this season, Luka Dončić has picked up his 16th technical foul. We’ll see if this one sticks.
The Los Angeles Lakers star is facing a one-game suspension from the NBA after again reaching a critical mass of technical fouls. This time, he got T’d up for a confrontation with Ziaire Williams of the Brooklyn Nets.
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Both men appeared to get a hand on each other while exchanging words in the third quarter, leading to a double technical.
The NBA can still rescind the technical foul, which has already happened this season. Dončić got his 16th tech after getting into it with Orlando Magic forward Goga Bitadze, but the NBA opted to rescind the foul rather than have him sit out a clash with the Detroit Pistons. Another tech was rescinded earlier in the season, in a clear case of a mistaken official.
If this also isn’t rescinded, Dončić will miss the Lakers’ game against the Washington Wizards on Monday.
If it goes through, it will be the first time Dončić has received the technical foul suspension, though he’s come close in the past. He finished three straight seasons from 2020 to 2023 with 15 techs and had 13 last season. He was actually in the same position in 2023, but the NBA decided to rescind the 16th tech in that case.
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Dončić would be the second player in the NBA to receive such a suspension, joining Phoenix Suns star and past Lakers villain Dillon Brooks. Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert has also been suspended multiple times due to his six flagrant fouls.
If Dončić’s foul isn’t rescinded, he will face a $5,000 fine for every subsequent technical foul and another one-game suspension for every two techs for the remainder of the regular season.