Luka Doncic is a professional basketball player from Slovenia. He currently plays for the Dallas Mavericks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Doncic was selected third overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2018 NBA Draft. He was immediately traded to the Mavericks on draft night. Luka has since lit up the league on fire with his performances for the Dallas Mavericks.
Doncic in his rookie season earned the NBA Rookie of the Year award. Luka was named to the NBA All-Rookie First team. Since then he has made an immediate impact and established himself as one of the top players in the league. Doncic has even made it to every NBA All-Star since coming to the NBA. Luka started this season with a bang and is leading in the NBA scoring title list with 32.8 points.
Luka Doncic on his double-tech ejection tonight: “I probably deserved the one, but two — for sure no. Two is just a little bit too much. But I deserve the first one, I’m not going to lie. For sure not the second, I was really shocked I was ejected.”
— Callie Caplan (@CallieCaplan) December 20, 2022
Recently, Luka was ejected from the game for contesting a no-call, for which he received a quick technical foul right after getting one earlier. The Mavs coach Jason Kidd was ejected as well after he stormed onto the court to argue on the call. Luka admitted to the first technical but does not agrees with receiving the second technical foul leading to his ejection.
It could be said that the referees are getting a little emotional now, following the ejection of Ja Morant, for bizarre reasons. Morant in the game was ejected for having a conversation with a fan, so it is fair to say that the call against Doncic was valid. The Mavs suffered a defeat against the Minnesota Timberwolves following Luka’s ejection.
What did Kobe Bryant say to Luka Doncic?
Luka like many other young players looked up to the late Kobe Bryant for inspiration. The latter inspired a whole generation of athletes, the Slovenian included. Luka shared some moments with Kobe and asked for some advice from the Los Angeles Lakers legend. Nevertheless, Luka has adjusted rather well to life in the NBA.
Doncic on JJ Reddick’s Podcast, “The Old Man and The Three”, told about the advice he received, “Just after I was drafted, I think, it was the Nike campus. He was there, and the one advice he gave me was, ‘Watch out, they’re gonna come after you because you’re from Europe.’ They’re gonna try and go after you.’ And it was true.“, Doncic said.
Luka who is a Slovenian international playing in America often receives criticism, because he is from Europe. It is a general outlook that the officials have become soft, and call fouls unnecessarily. Professional athletes, regardless of where they are from, often face criticism and scrutiny as part of the nature of their profession. In Doncic’s case, it still holds true that often times he will be at the end of criticism.
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