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Is Lu Dort a dirty player? Here are all of his career ejections and dirty plays after his foul on Nikola Jokic in the Nuggets-Thunder game.
The biggest storyline of the NBA’s slate of games on Friday was the MVP battle between Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, but that was overshadowed by Luguentz Dort‘s trip on Jokic and his subsequent ejection, which has since gone viral.
While Dort was ejected, Jokic and Jaylin Williams of the Thunder received technical fouls. But after the play and the game, which was followed by different thoughts from both Denver and Oklahoma City, the question of whether Dort is a dirty player has seemingly come to the forefront.
While Dort has a history of being a hard-nosed defender and pest on that side of the floor, he is also known for his controversial play style and potentially dirty plays, which has resulted in both technical fouls and ejections throughout his career, not just on Jokic as seen on Friday night.
Is Lu Dort A Dirty Player? Career Ejections And Dirty Plays For The Thunder’s Enforcer
Through Dort’s seven NBA seasons, he has a total of nine technical fouls, six flagrant fouls, and four career ejections, according to Fox Sports’ database on advanced statistics.
While that might not seem like a lot compared to other enforcers around the league like Draymond Green or Isaiah Stewart, Oklahoma City’s wing has slowly made a name for himself as a player who is willing to do the dirty work and not afraid of confrontation.
Dort’s first career ejection came in the 2021-22 season with the Thunder, as he elbowed Cleveland Cavaliers‘ big man Kevin Love. He was assessed a flagrant two foul and was ejected in what was his first disqualification in his third season, but the lone one of that year.
After two years without any ejections, Dort once again was given a flagrant two foul for a play against Daniel Gafford of the Dallas Mavericks in early 2023. He hit the center in an area no NBA player wants to be hit in (cough, cough, Draymond), and was ejected from that game.
Later in the year, Dort went on to get involved in a scuffle with the San Antonio Spurs, as he, Kenrich Williams, and Julian Champagnie were all ejected in that game.
Finally, Dort was ejected on Friday night after a trip on Jokic.
Though Dort’s four career ejections might not be enough to consider him a ‘dirty player,’ the 6’4″ Canadian has a slew of plays that, though they didn’t result in ejections, have helped him earn the moniker of being ‘dirty.’
On the biggest stage, Dort came under fire for multiple plays against the Indiana Pacers in the 2025 NBA Finals, which many fans thought were seen as dirty plays. He also had a play against Ja Morant earlier in the postseason that caught flak, as he hit the point guard while he was in the air. Dort had a similar play against Victor Wembanyama on Christmas, in which he brought the center to the ground resulting in fans accusing of him trying to hurt the French superstar.
He was also fined earlier this season for a fight with Jeremiah Fears of the New Orleans Pelicans.
While Dort has only been ejected four total times, with nine technical fouls in his 413 career games, he is by no means considered a ‘clean player,’ and his ejectionfor his foul on Jokic is just another reason why many see him as dirty.
Lu Dort Dirty Play, Ejection For Nikola Jokic Foul
As for the play on Friday night, Jokic was running back down the floor past Dort when the Thunder player stuck his leg out to trip the three-time MVP. While Dort expressed his displeasure with the referees, Jokic immediately got up and confronted him, but as Dort backed off, Williams came to his defense, which then led to a scuffle between him and Jokic.
Dort was assessed a flagrant two foul and ejected from the game, while Jokic and Williams each received technical fouls of their own.
After the game, Jokic gave a blunt reaction to Dort’s ‘dirty play.’
“It’s an unnecessary move and a necessary reaction,” Jokic said. “There is no such thing — I think there’s not supposed to be those things on a basketball floor. So, it was just an unnecessary move and a necessary reaction by me.”
Williams, who brought it upon himself to become involved in the situation, had a different reaction to Dort’s foul.
“Just competing,” Williams told ESPN. “Two teams competing, that’s it. That’s all I got.”
Following the game, which resulted in an overtime win for Oklahoma City, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault also gave his thoughts on the foul and scuffle that led to Dort’s fourth career ejection.
“I will say this: If [Williams] is running up the floor and gets tripped, we expect a flagrant 2 from this point forward,” he said. “That’s all. If that’s the precedent, if that becomes a malicious play and flagrant 2 is the line in the sand on that, we would expect that if it’s [Williams]. We would expect that if it’s anybody. And if that’s the case, we’re good.”
Unsurprisingly, Nuggets head coach David Adelman had a different perspective on what the referees called and confirmed a move ‘unnecessary and excessive with a high potential for injury.’
“I think his frustration is sometimes because the game’s officiated differently out on the floor than it is near the basket, and I think he was reacting to what was being done to him,” Adelman said. “And obviously with Dort’s play, I think that took it to a different level for him. He felt like it was malicious, also.”
With Dort now on Denver’s radar for his play against Jokic, the next time these two teams face off has explosive potential. Luckily for NBA fans, the Thunder and Nuggets play again on March 9th in Oklahoma City.
But for now, Dort’s ejection for his foul on Jokic is just another notch in his belt, and another reason why many deem him a ‘dirty player.’
Eli Gregorski is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy Sports. He has years of sports writing experience covering the NBA, NFL, college football and basketball, international soccer, and Formula One. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was the assistant sports editor for the award-winning CU Independent student publication. More about Eli Gregorski