Luka Doncic recently blamed the referees for their unfair bias towards Dillon Brooks and Team Canada. As many basketball fans might be aware, we have entered the closing stages of the 2023 FIBA World Cup. The teams that have qualified for the quarter-finals have faced off in order to make the semi-finals.
Team Slovenia, which was led by the Dallas Mavericks star managed to make it to the quarter-finals and matched up against Team Canada. Although this was quite an intense and fast-paced game, Team Canada pulled ahead in the second half to win with a final score of 100-89. By doing so, they eliminated Doncic and the squad from contention in the FIBA World Cup.
During the postgame interview following his loss to Team Canada, Luka made sure to mention that the officiating for this game was questionable. While nothing can be done now to change the past, let us still take a closer look at what Doncic had to say.
What did Luka Doncic say about the officiating at the 2023 FIBA World Cup?
Since the criteria for a foul or violation are quite subjective, referees have recently come under a lot of scrutiny for making questionable pivotal calls that affected the outcome of games. We have seen several NBA stars go at the referees and hold them accountable for the foul calls awarded.
Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing how the referee will respond to intimidation and cross-questioning from the players. Luka revealed that the officials in the Slovenia vs. Canada game were hesitant to call fouls against Dillon Brooks due to the fact that he was constantly “going at them.”
“The referees told to one of the guys: ‘We’re not gonna call a foul on him (Dillon Brooks])because he’s coming at us. I think this is not fair. I know I complain a lot but I don’t think it’s fair.”
“The referees told to one of the guys: ‘We’re not gonna call a foul on [Dillon Brooks] because he’s coming at us.’ … I know I complain a lot, but I don’t think it’s fair.”
Luka Doncic on the officiating in the Slovenia-Canada game 👀pic.twitter.com/l8xWy0Jv3n
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 6, 2023
If the FIBA World Cup referees hesitated to call fouls on Brooks because he was aggravated by previous foul calls, this is quite a troubling situation and should be addressed. Although Doncic played well throughout the FIBA World Cup, his team’s journey has come to an end with a loss to Team Canada.
