Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic has been fined by NBA for an inappropriate gesture towards a referee in the game against the Golden State Warriors. Doncic was seen rubbing his fingers together, referring to money while staring down an official in the dying moments of the game.
The incident occurred when Dallas was trailing, 125-122 in the game's last five seconds. Here Doncic felt Draymond Green had fouled him as he went for a layup. The official didn’t call the foul and hence Doncic was seen performing the gesture. Unfortunately for Dallas, the Warriors went on to win, 127-125.
NBA released a statement on Friday, describing Doncic's actions as "inappropriate and unprofessional" and also imposed a fine of $35,000 on the 24-year-old. The statement was issued by Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President, Head of Basketball Operations.
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Going back to the game, Doncic was the best performer for Mavericks as he finished with 30 points, seven rebounds and 17 assists. While rookie Jaden Hardy dropped 27 points with five rebounds. Now, the 24-year-old Slovenian has racked up 15 technical fouls in the season and is just one away from an automatic one-game suspension.
This disappointment continued for Luka and the Mavericks as they suffered an upset 109-117 loss against the Charlotte Hornets. Dallas was clear favourites in the fixture with Doncic and recently acquired Kyrie Irving in their starting lineup. The Hornets came into this game on a back-to-back and restricted Dallas from making a 21-point comeback in the fourth quarter.
Luka Doncic was extremely frustrated with the loss as the team was subjected to boos by the home fans. Speaking in the post-match press conference, he said, “It’s really frustrating. I think you can see it with me on the court. Sometimes I don't feel it’s me. I'm just being out there, you know? I used to have really fun smiling on court, but it's just been so frustrating for a lot of reasons, not just basketball.”
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