The NBA suspended Los Angeles Lakers star guard Luka Dončić for Monday’s matchup against the Washington Wizards. The NBA’s leading scorer was called for his 16th technical foul of the season on Friday, triggering an automatic one-game ban.
Dončić received his 16th technical with just over five minutes remaining in the third quarter against the Brooklyn Nets, after committing an offensive foul in the backcourt. Nets small forward Ziaire Williams came over to celebrate, and Dončić shoved him aside. Williams reacted aggressively, triggering a review for a hostile act. Both Dončić and Williams were assessed technical fouls after the review.
After the game, Dončić said he disagreed with the call.
“I didn’t even talk. I just wanted to get out of there,” Dončić said. “They said I pushed, my push was exaggerated, which it obviously was not. And I don’t know what else to say.”
Lakers coach JJ Redick said he expected the team to appeal the call.
Williams said, “I’m always (going to) compete no matter who it is.”
“So I guess he didn’t like the physicality or whatever it was,” he continued. “But no hard feelings on this end.”
NBA rules require players to serve one-game suspensions after their 16th technical foul of the season, with subsequent one-game suspensions for every two additional technical fouls they commit. The count resets in the playoffs.
Dončić nearly picked up his 16th technical foul last week after an incident with Orlando Magic center Goga Bitadze, but the league rescinded both players’ technical fouls after reviewing them the next day. Dončić would be suspended again if he receives an 18th technical foul. This will be Dončić’s 13th missed game of the season, so he must play in at least three of the last seven Lakers games to be eligible for postseason awards.
Dončić was listed as questionable and played through left hamstring soreness in Friday night’s win against the Nets. When asked how he would be able to spend the Lakers’ multi-day break, Dončić mentioned how it was the first time since the All-Star break that the Lakers had back-to-back days off.
“We got two days between, finally,” Dončić said. “I think the first time we got to get two days between the games after All-Star. So definitely get a lot of ice, a lot of recovery.”
Dončić had played in all 20 games for the Lakers since the All-Star break, averaging 35.5 points, including a current 12-game streak of at least 30 points. The last time Dončić missed games was the four outings before the All-Star break due to a left hamstring strain.
Now, Dončić gets an extra day ahead of a back-to-back against the Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers home games. Dončić’s suspension will be served against a Wizards team that has won only three games since the All-Star break and will likely be without 2025 All-Stars Trae Young (the player Dončić’s draft rights were swapped with in 2018) and Anthony Davis (the player for whom Dončić was traded from Dallas last year).
The Wizards will be playing the second night of a back-to-back on Monday in Los Angeles after traveling from Portland on Sunday. On Friday night in Golden State, the Wizards sat young starters Alex Sarr, Bilal Coulibaly, Tre Johnson and Bub Carrington for the entire fourth quarter despite leading by three quarters; the Wizards lost 131-126.
The Lakers, returning home for the first time after a six-game road trip, benefitted from similar shenanigans Friday night against the Nets. Los Angeles blew a 12-point first-quarter lead and only led the Nets by one point through three quarters Friday night, but the Nets chose not to play starters Williams, Nicolas Claxton or Noah Clowney in the fourth quarter, with head coach Jordi Fernández using his final timeouts with 9:23 and 5:01 left in the period. The Lakers wound up playing Dončić for 39 minutes, while Austin Reaves (40 minutes) and LeBron James (38 minutes) played the entire fourth quarter.
When Dončić is set to return, the Cavaliers will also be on the second night of a back-to-back, like the Lakers on Tuesday. Unlike the Lakers, the Cavaliers will be flying in from Utah, a team that plays in another time zone. Then, the Lakers visit the Oklahoma City Thunder in what promises to be a marquee matchup before the Lakers have two more days off again before visiting Dončić’s former team in Dallas on Sunday.