Luka Doncic Fined $15,000 For Throwing Ball At Referee In Game 6

The NBA playoffs may be over for Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks, but the budding superstar is still feeling the effects of his postseason actions. Wednesday, the league fined Doncic $15,000 for throwing a ball at a referee during his first-round series against the Los Angeles Clippers.

As the third quarter of Game 6 wore on with the Mavericks down double-digits to the Clippers, Doncic was trying to lead a miraculous comeback. At one point, Doncic drove to the basket and was called for committing an offensive foul against Paul George, who was defending him.

After the whistle, Doncic quickly tossed the ball toward the closest official, who was standing on the baseline. Although it appears that he threw the ball without animus, Doncic was clearly frustrated. The ball landed at the feet of the referee and he blew his whistle and gave Doncic a technical.

Assessing a technical on Doncic seemed to be the end of the league’s disciplinary measures. Apparently, the NBA decided to take a closer look at the play in the days between Sunday’s series finale and levying a fine three days later.

If the league is investigating whether more actions or fines are needed as the result of plays in the series, it has a lot to look at.

Referee whistles were a frequent part of the Mavericks and Clippers’ series. In total, 16 technical fouls were called, officials assessed two flagrant fouls—a flagrant-one and flagrant-two—and three ejections occurred during the series.

There were also plenty of heated words said on the court and after games. Actions by Marcus Morris Sr. drew a lot of scrutiny. In Game 6, he was tossed after committing a flagrant foul against Doncic.

“It was a terrible foul,” Doncic said after the game. “That is two games in a row that he did something like that. I really had hoped that last game it wasn’t on purpose but looking back now after this game, I think so. I don’t want to deal with those kinds of players and just move on.”

Doncic’s stellar performance throughout the series wasn’t enough to elevate the Mavericks over the Clippers. Los Angeles won Game 6 to secure a 4-2 series victory. They move on to the second-round, where they will face the Denver Nuggets.