hero-image

"Luka Doncic deserves to be ejected every night" - Skip Bayless doesn't mince words while highlighting Lakers star's on-court whining

LA Lakers superstar guard Luka Doncic was controversially ejected late in Tuesday's 136-120 road loss to the OKC Thunder. However, according to longtime NBA pundit Skip Bayless, Doncic's ejection was a long time coming.

With 7:42 remaining in the fourth quarter, Doncic converted a right-handed floater to give LA a 108-107 lead before shouting toward the sideline. Official J.T. Orr promptly whistled him for his second technical foul, with his first coming after he argued a non-call in the third quarter.

Afterward, the five-time All-Star appeared to make the case to Orr that he was trash-talking a Thunder fan.

The late-game ruling ended Doncic's night early in a tightly contested clash with potential playoff implications for the Lakers. They sit third in the Western Conference (48-31), two games ahead of the eighth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves (46-33) with three outings left.

Nevertheless, Bayless took to X/Twitter to defend Orr, claiming that Doncic's frequent gripes with referees had been building up.

"The truth is, Luka deserves to be ejected almost every night for arguing EVERY SINGLE CALL," Bayless wrote.

Doncic finished with 23 points, three rebounds, five assists, one block and three 3-pointers, shooting 7-for-15 (46.7%) across 31 minutes.


LeBron James on Luka Doncic's polarizing ejection against Thunder

Following Tuesday's loss to OKC, Luka Doncic's co-star LeBron James touched on his ejection, which caused an online stir. According to the four-time MVP, J.T. Orr had a personal vendetta against the Slovenian megastar and made an unjustified judgment to throw him out of the contest.

"I don't know why the ref was taking it personal," James said (timestamp: 0:21).
"He had already given Luka one (technical), and Luka knew that. Luka was going back and forth at that time with a fan who was sitting courtside, like Luka does. ... The ref took it upon himself to think it was versus him, or whatever the case may be."

James added that the game "was just weird as hell after" Doncic was tossed. LA went on to get outscored 29-12 from that point, with Doncic's absence seemingly serving as a momentum killer for his squad.

The Lakers (48-31) will look to bounce back on Wednesday during Doncic's homecoming against his ex-team, the Dallas Mavericks (38-41).


Also Read: Nikola Jokic predicted to form formidable duo with Luka Doncic on LA Lakers

You may also like